Schools Shut in Los Angeles Due To Threat
During a press conference Tuesday, Los Angeles Unified School District police Chief Steven Zipperman said the threat was still being evaluated. Schools would remain closed until the threat was cleared, which officials said could happen by the end of the day.
The New York Times reported the schools were closed and students sent home due to a bomb threat.
"We need the co-operation of the whole of Los Angeles today," said school board president Steve Zimmer. "We need families and neighbours to work together with our schools and with our employees to make sure our schools are safe throughout today."
A law enforcement official said the threat that closed the schools 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.
District superintendent Ramon Cortines would not detail the threat but described it generally as a "message."
"It was not to one school, two schools or three schools. 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."
Cortines said the San Bernardino shooting that left 14 people dead on Dec. 2 influenced the decision to implement the the shutdown.
The district has 640,000 students in kindergarten through Grade 12 and more than 900 schools and 187 public charter schools.
The district spans 1,865 square kilometres including Los Angeles and all or part of more than 30 smaller cities and some unincorporated areas.
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 5:30 p.m. local time Monday after the threat was made.
-CBC
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