LA schools shut down after unspecified threat

Officials in the Los Angeles Unified School District have closed all schools Tuesday after receiving an “electronic” threat.

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District Superintendent Ramon Cortines said the threats weren’t made against a specific school but against students in the nation’s second-largest school district.

“It was not to one school, two schools or three schools,” he said. “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.”

Board president: all students are safe.

— L.A. Unified (@LASchools) December 15, 2015

A law enforcement official says the threat that closed all schools in the vast Los Angeles Unified School District was emailed to a school board member and appeared to come from overseas. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation. The official says the threat was sent late Monday.

Almost 700,000 children and over 900 schools were affected. FBI and police were searching each school.

DEVELOPING: LA Unified School District considering shutting schools after receiving threat https://t.co/Aq6KKwYUlI pic.twitter.com/rQFyJQUvFA

— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 15, 2015

Parents or guardians were asked to pick up any children who were already at school. They were required to show ID.

District spokeswoman Ellen Morgan announced the closure at district headquarters.

All LAUSD schools closed after bomb threat called in to board member, police say https://t.co/zhYORR9HfF

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 15, 2015

The ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on Intelligence says the threat that shut down the Los Angeles school system is believed to be a hoax.

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said a preliminary investigation indicates that the threats in Los Angeles and New York City were designed to disrupt school districts in large cities.

New York City officials said they received the same threat that led to the closure of the L.A. school system but quickly concluded that it was a hoax.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday morning that he was “absolutely convinced” there was no danger to schoolchildren in New York.

New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said he thought Los Angeles officials overreacted by deciding to close the school system.

Bratton said a school superintendent received the threatening email Tuesday morning.

Bratton said the person who wrote the note claimed to be a jihadist but made errors that made it clear the person was a prankster.

The threats came two weeks after 14 people were killed in a shooting in San Bernardino. That city is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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