SAN FRANCISCO—Several employees of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) received “non-specific” threatening e-mails on Wednesday, December 16, according to the San Francisco Police Department. The threats were similar to those received in Los Angeles, which prompted the superintendent to close all schools in the district on Tuesday, December 15.
According to the SFUSD, the school district is the seventh largest in California with approximately 57,000 students enrolled. SFUSD Superintendent Richard Carranza received the forwarded e-mail from SFUSD employees at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 17. After discussing the matter with San Francisco officials, Carranza deemed the threat not credible, stating the e-mail was generic and did not identify the district or any particular school by name.
According to Carranza, the sender of the e-mail had threatened to shoot students and first responders. The e-mail was sent to non-management employees, which Carranza says was not intended to be a warning indicating urgency, “at this time we have no reason to believe that the threat is credible whatsoever.”
Although the SFUSD schools did not issue an official closure, Carranza’s office proceeded with contacting the FBI and SFPD to patrol and investigate campuses for anything that seemed suspicious. Authorities searched all 134 campuses in the district and reported nothing out of the ordinary was discovered.
Officials also notified neighboring schools and universities including: San Francisco State University, City College of San Francisco, San Francisco charter and private schools. SFPD authorities have increased security at all locations until further notice.
According to authorities, several school districts in Texas, New York, and Florida also received similar warnings at around the same time on Wednesday evening. Long Beach’s school district in California also received a similar warning. Police say the e-mails were targeted at school districts in urban areas.
