Teh One Who Knocks
12-17-2015, 12:51 PM
FOX News and The Associated Press
An email sent to the Houston school district threatening violence at several campuses was similar to messages targeting schools in Los Angeles and New York earlier this week, officials said Wednesday.
Parents of children in the school district received an automated phone message around 10 p.m. from school officials. They said they didn’t consider the threat credible and that the schools will be open on Thursday, according to the Houston Chronicle.
“But as a precautionary measure, law enforcement officers are currently conducting random sweeps of school district buildings to ensure student safety,” the message said.
District officials told the Chronicle that Dallas and Miami schools received similar messages. The email was received by the Houston school district at 8:17 p.m. local time, chief of staff Jason Spencer told the paper.
Officials declined to reveal the details of the email, citing an ongoing investigation, the Chronicle reported.
Los Angeles schools resumed classses Wednesday after an e-mail threatening a large-scale jihadi attack with guns and bombs prompted the entire district to shut down Tuesday.
Los Angeles' reaction Tuesday marked a sharp contrast to that of New York, which received a similar message threatening its schools but dismissed it as a hoax and held classes as scheduled. New York City Police Chief Bill Bratton called the response from Los Angeles a "significant overreaction", adding that it appeared the writer had watched a lot of the Showtime terrorism drama "Homeland."
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said late Tuesday that the FBI concluded that the threat wasn't credible.
Bureau officials in Houston told the Chronicle late Wednesday they were unaware of any threats to campuses in the district.
Houston board president Rhonda Skillern-Jones told the paper the district has received threats in the past but nothing compared to the threat they received Wednesday night.
We have increased security at all of our schools as well as all surrounding law enforcement agencies alerted,” Skillern-Jones added. “The FBI and our surrounding agencies are professionals at this. They are the best source of intelligence for these things. If they don’t believe it’s a credible threat, I don’t imagine we would cancel school.”
The Houston Independent School District is the seventh-largest district in the nation, with nearly 215,000 students attending 280 schools.
An email sent to the Houston school district threatening violence at several campuses was similar to messages targeting schools in Los Angeles and New York earlier this week, officials said Wednesday.
Parents of children in the school district received an automated phone message around 10 p.m. from school officials. They said they didn’t consider the threat credible and that the schools will be open on Thursday, according to the Houston Chronicle.
“But as a precautionary measure, law enforcement officers are currently conducting random sweeps of school district buildings to ensure student safety,” the message said.
District officials told the Chronicle that Dallas and Miami schools received similar messages. The email was received by the Houston school district at 8:17 p.m. local time, chief of staff Jason Spencer told the paper.
Officials declined to reveal the details of the email, citing an ongoing investigation, the Chronicle reported.
Los Angeles schools resumed classses Wednesday after an e-mail threatening a large-scale jihadi attack with guns and bombs prompted the entire district to shut down Tuesday.
Los Angeles' reaction Tuesday marked a sharp contrast to that of New York, which received a similar message threatening its schools but dismissed it as a hoax and held classes as scheduled. New York City Police Chief Bill Bratton called the response from Los Angeles a "significant overreaction", adding that it appeared the writer had watched a lot of the Showtime terrorism drama "Homeland."
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said late Tuesday that the FBI concluded that the threat wasn't credible.
Bureau officials in Houston told the Chronicle late Wednesday they were unaware of any threats to campuses in the district.
Houston board president Rhonda Skillern-Jones told the paper the district has received threats in the past but nothing compared to the threat they received Wednesday night.
We have increased security at all of our schools as well as all surrounding law enforcement agencies alerted,” Skillern-Jones added. “The FBI and our surrounding agencies are professionals at this. They are the best source of intelligence for these things. If they don’t believe it’s a credible threat, I don’t imagine we would cancel school.”
The Houston Independent School District is the seventh-largest district in the nation, with nearly 215,000 students attending 280 schools.