Los Angeles on Tuesday shut more than 1,000 public schools over a threatened attack with bombs and assault rifles, sending hundreds of thousands of students home as city leaders were criticized for overreacting to what authorities later said was apparently a hoax.
The e-mailed threat, which authorities said was routed through Germany, but likely originated locally, was made nearly two weeks after a married couple inspired by the Islamic State killed 14 people and wounded 22 others at a county office building 100km away in San Bernardino, California.
“Based on past circumstance, I could not take the chance,” Los Angeles School Superintendent Ramon Cortines told a news conference early in the day.
Photo: AFP
However, federal officials, who asked not to be identified, echoed an assessment by New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton that the decision in Los Angeles was an “overreaction.”
New York had received an almost identical threat that was quickly deemed not credible.
After more than 1,500 school district sites had been inspected by nightfall, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti conceded that the message appeared to have been a hoax.
“We can now announce the FBI has determined that this is not a credible threat,” Garcetti said, adding that the incident required further investigation, but “what we do know is, it will be safe for our children to return to school tomorrow.”
Despite that determination, Garcetti and police chief Charlie Beck stood by the decision to close the schools. They said New York officials had more time to assess the threat, which was sent to both districts from the same IP address.
However, the unprecedented move at the second-largest public school system in the US left about 643,000 students and their parents confused and frustrated.
Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, who has two children in LA Unified School District (LAUSD) schools, complained about the lack of a timely districtwide emergency alert system. He said many students learned of the closures from their friends via social media.
A 17-year-old boy was walking to his charter high school when he was struck and killed by a truck at 7:31am, officials said, minutes after LAUSD said classes would be canceled for the day.
A law enforcement source said that Los Angeles authorities ordered the closure to allow a full search of public school facilities without consulting the FBI, which typically takes the lead on investigations into potential terrorism.
“To disrupt the daily schedules of half a million school children, their parents, day care, buses based on an anonymous e-mail, without consultation, if in fact, consultation did not occur with law enforcement authorities, I think it was a significant overreaction,” said Bratton, a former Los Angeles police chief.
Garcetti denied that assertion, saying his city had contacted federal law enforcement officials.
US Representative Brad Sherman of California told the New York Times that the writer of the e-mail threat claimed to be a devout Muslim prepared to launch an attack using bombs, nerve gas and rifles with “32 jihadist friends” because he had been bullied at a Los Angeles high school.
Sherman told the paper that the number of attackers and claim to have nerve gas cast doubts on the credibility of the e-mail, as did its author consistently failing to capitalize the word “Allah.”
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