Los Angeles Closes All District Schools after Bomb Threat

Los Angeles Closes All District Schools after Bomb Threat

  • By Sydny Shepard
  • Dec 15, 2015

All Los Angeles Unified School District facilities were closed in mid-December following an electronic threat emailed to a school board member. The district, which educates over 600,000 students is the second largest district in the United States and Superintendent Ramon Cortines believe he could not risk the lives of those students after the events in Paris and a the nearby town of San Bernardino.

The threat, which was believed to be sent by email from a German IP address, included information of an attack on not just one, but many schools in the district.

Cortines ordered the shutdown around 8 a.m. that morning out of an abundance of caution. Student who had already arrived on a campus would be held by staff members and law enforcement until a parent with ID could come pick up their child.

The superintendent then ordered law enforcement to search each of the 900 schools in the district and give a report to the board upon declaring them safe.

By 1 p.m., U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said a preliminary investigation indicates that the threat in Los Angeles was designed to disrupt school districts in large cities. He included that investigators are still gathering information about the origins of the threats.

New York City Police Department also reported that, they too, had received a similar threat to their school district, but quickly deemed it not credible. Schools in NYC remained open.

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

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