Los Angeles schools close following email threat

The Los Angeles Unified School District commonly gets threats, but authorities said this one – which was sent by email and believed to have come from an IP address in Frankfurt, Germany – was rare.

A police officer puts up yellow tape outside the Edward Roybal high school in Los Angeles on December 15, 2015. Richard Vogel/AP Photo

LOS ANGELES // The second-largest school district in the US was shut down Tuesday after a school board member received an emailed threat that raised fears of another attack like the deadly shooting in nearby San Bernardino.

More than 900 public schools and 187 charter schools attended by 640,000 students across Los Angeles were closed.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines said every campus would be searched, and he asked for a report from the school board certifying that they are safe.

Authorities in New York City said they received the same threat but quickly concluded that it was a hoax. New York police commissioner William Bratton said he thought Los Angeles officials overreacted.

The person who wrote the note claimed to be an extremist, but made errors that made it clear the person was a prankster, Mr Bratton said.

Lupita Vela, who has a daughter in the third grade and a son who is a high school senior, called the threat “absolutely terrifying” in light of the San Bernardino attack, which killed 14 people earlier this month.

She got an automated phone call informing her of the closure.

“I know the kids are anxious,” she said.

District spokeswoman Shannon Haber said the threat was sent by email to a school board member and was believed to have come from an IP address in Frankfurt, Germany.

Authorities would not elaborate on the threat, saying it was still being evaluated. They described the shutdown was a precaution.

The Los Angeles Unified School District commonly gets threats, but Mr Cortines called this one rare.

“It was not to one school, two schools or three schools,” he said at a news conference. “It was many schools, not specifically identified. But there were many schools. That’s the reason I took the action that I did ... It was to students at schools.”

The San Bernardino attack influenced the decision to close the entire district, he said.

The superintendent said the district police chief informed him about the threat shortly after 5am.

“He shared with me that some of the details talked about backpacks, talked about other packages,” Mr Cortines said.

The closure came the same day classes were cancelled at San Bernardino Valley College because of a bomb threat. Students and staff were sent home around 5.30pm on Monday.

* Associated Press