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MOUNT LEBANON, Pa. (AP) — A Pittsburgh-area Catholic school reopened Monday after an emailed shooting threat closed it for three days last week.
Mount Lebanon police said Seton-LaSalle officials received the anonymous threat early Wednesday. It contained threats to shoot students and staff and referenced attacks at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999 and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.
Police and school officials met with parents Sunday to detail security measures being implemented so the school could reopen. It has roughly 380 students, but the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, said nearly 500 parents — "at least one for every student" — attended the meeting.
Deputy Chief Aaron Lauth declined to detail the security procedures in place, but he said students are being asked to be involved in the process.
"If you see something, say something," Lauth said, describing the general approach being used.
The FBI has been assisting police, primarily because whoever sent the threat took measures to remain anonymous. The FBI is not commenting on its involvement, said Special Agent William Crowley, spokesman for the FBI's Pittsburgh office.
Police have some leads, however, and have conducted "a lot of interviews and served some subpoenas," Lauth said.
Lauth wouldn't say who controls the computers, records or other devices being targeted by the subpoenas. But he said police are considering whether the threat could have come from someone within the school community or someone "external."
Police were using the subpoenas "due to the fact that the person or people who sent the email threat did take steps to mask their identity," Lauth said.
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