Authorities: Bomb threats across U.S. appear hoaxes

Authorities say NEW YORK — bomb threats sent Thurs- day to dozens of schools, government buildings and other locations across the U.S. appear to be a hoax.

Law enforcement agen- cies across the country dismissed the threats, which they said were meant to cause disruption and compel recipients into sending money and are not consid- ered credible.

Some of the emails had the subject line: “Think Twice.” The sender claimed to have had an associate plant a small bomb in the recipient’s building and that the only way to stop him from setting it off was by making an online payment of $20,000 in Bitcoin.

“We are currently moni- toring multiple bomb threats that have been sent electronically to various locations throughout the city,” the New York City Police Department’s counterterrorism unit tweeted. “These threats are also being reported to other locations nationwide & are NOT considered cred- ible at this time.”

Other law enforcement agencies also dismissed the threats, which were written in a choppy style reminiscent of the Nigerian prince email scam.

The Palm Beach County, Florida, Sheriff ’s Office and the Boise, Idaho, police said they had no reason to believe that threats made to locations in those areas were credible.

The FBI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Across the country, some schools closed early and others were evacuated or placed on lockdown because of the hoax. Authorities said a threat emailed to a school in Troy, Missouri, about 55 miles northeast of St. Louis, was sent from Russia.

The bomb threats also prompted evacuations at city hall in Aurora, Illinois; the offices of the News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina; a suburban Atlanta courthouse; and businesses in Detroit.

“Organizations nation- wide, both public and private, have reported receiv- ing emailed bomb threats today,” Michi g an State Police spokeswoman Shan- non Banner said. “They are not targeted toward any one specific sector.”

Penn State University noti- fied students via a text alert about threats to a half-dozen buildings and an airport on its main campus in State College, Pennsylvania. In an update, the school said the threat appeared to be part of a “national hoax.”

Officials at Columbine High School in Colorado were dealing Thursday with a bomb threat of a different sort. Students were being kept inside for the rest of the school day after someone called in a bomb threat against the school.

The Jefferson County, Colorado, Sheriff ’s Office said the caller claimed to have placed explosive devices in the school and to be hiding outside with a gun.

There is nothing to validate the threat at Columbine, where 12 students and a teacher were killed by two students in 1999, according to sheriff ’s spokesman Mike Taplin.

Two dozen other Colo- rado schools were also temporarily placed on lockout, meaning their doors were locked but classes continued normally, as the threat was investigated.