The Los Angeles Unified School canceled classes on Tuesday [December 15] after what the district’s superintendent called a “rare” threat, which comes amid new concerns about security nationwide, according to CNN.
There was what was called an “electronic threat,” or an email threat, that was received early Tuesday, which prompted the decision to cancel classes and the threat “is still being analyzed,” according to the school district police Chief Steve Zipperman. The threat was traced to an IP address in Frankfurt, Germany, according to law enforcement sources.
Law enforcement sources are stating the threats could have masked their location and district officials have been looking into the threat since about 10 p.m. Monday night. The FBI and LAPD are helping out with the investigation.
The district superintendent, Ramon Cortines, said the “message” mentioned backpacks and “other packages.” He mentioned many schools were threatened, none by name. The threat was toward students in the schools. He also mentioned that the school district receives many threats and while he didn’t go into detail about the events, the recent attacks in San Bernardino, California have heightened the concerns about the potential terrorism across the United States.
The superintendent asked authorities to search all of the roughly 900 charter and K-12 schools in his district “before the day is over.” There will be a following statement made by Cortines that could offer more information about what prompted his decision and lay out what will happen next, including whether classes will be in session on Wednesday. He says, that won’t happen “until I know it’s safe.”