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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco schools received a threat similar to ones received in Los Angeles and New York this week, but officials decided the threatening email was not credible and kept schools open Thursday.
The email was sent to five employees of the school district late Wednesday, said schools superintendent Richard Carranza. It was forwarded to his office around 6:30 a.m. Thursday.
The new threat comes on the heels of Tuesday's districtwide closure in Los Angeles, which was sparked by an email threatening a large-scale attack. New York City schools received a similar threat, but officials there concluded it was a hoax.
San Francisco Unified School District joins districts in Texas and Florida that received similar threats Wednesday night.
Carranza said part of the reason officials thought the threat a hoax was that it was generic, not even identifying the district by name.
The sender of the email threatened to shoot students and first responders, but again, in a generalized way, Carranza said. The emails were sent to non-management employees, suggesting it was not intended to be an urgent warning.
Still, Carranza's office contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and San Francisco Police Department, and principals checked their schools for anything suspicious.
Finding nothing out of the ordinary, classes started on time Thursday. Officials increased the number of police officers on campuses.
The San Francisco school district is the seventh largest in California, according to its website, and enrolls roughly 57,000 students.
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