A series of bomb threats e-mailed on Thursday to hundreds of schools, businesses and government buildings across the US triggered searches, evacuations and fear, but there were no signs of explosives, while authorities said the scare appeared to be a crude attempt at extortion.
Law enforcement agencies across the US dismissed the threats, saying they were meant to cause disruption and compel recipients into sending money and were not considered credible.
Some of the e-mails had the subject line: “Think Twice.” They were sent from a spoofed e-mail address. The sender claimed to have had an associate plant a small bomb in the recipient’s building and that the only way to stop him from setting it off was by making an online payment of US$20,000 in bitcoin.
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“We are currently monitoring multiple bomb threats that have been sent electronically to various locations throughout the city,” the New York City Police Department’s counterterrorism unit tweeted. “These threats are also being reported to other locations nationwide & are NOT considered credible at this time.”
Other law enforcement agencies also dismissed the threats, which were written in a choppy style reminiscent of the Nigerian prince e-mail scam.
The Palm Beach County, Florida, sheriff’s office and the Boise, Idaho, police said they had no reason to believe that threats made to locations in those areas were credible.
One of the e-mails wound up in a spam filter, Boise Police chief William Bones said.
The FBI said it was assisting law enforcement agencies that are dealing with the threats.
“As always, we encourage the public to remain vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activities which could represent a threat to public safety,” the FBI said in a statement.
In the wake of Thursday’s e-mails, some schools across the country closed early and others were evacuated or placed on lockdown.
Authorities said a threat e-mailed to a school in Troy, Missouri, about 88km northeast of St Louis, was sent from Russia.
The bomb threats also prompted evacuations at city hall in Aurora, Illinois, the offices of the News and Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, a suburban Atlanta courthouse and businesses in Detroit.
Officials at Columbine High School in Colorado were dealing with a bomb threat of a different sort. Students were being kept inside for the rest of the school day after someone called in a bomb threat against the school.
The Jefferson County, Colorado, Sheriff’s Office said the caller claimed to have placed explosive devices in the school and to be hiding outside with a gun.
Sheriff’s spokesman Mike Taplin said nothing was found at Columbine, where 12 students and a teacher were killed by two students in 1999.
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