Schools’ shelter-in-place lifted after bomb threats

DANBURY — A shelter-in-place was lifted at Danbury schools after bomb threats were received Thursday morning, officials said.

Erin Henry, a city spokesperson, said the directive was lifted around 11:30 a.m.

The threats were the latest in a series that have disrupted schools and businesses in Brookfield and Danbury over the past week. Officials said the threats have been unfounded.

“At this time, we have no reason to believe these threats are credible,” Henry said about the threats that targeted Danbury on Thursday. “Danbury PD is working with several agencies to continue the investigation.”

A message sent to parents Thursday said, “multiple threats” were made to buildings and businesses across the city.

“We are placing all schools in shelter-inplace while we gather additional information about the nature of these threats,” the alert said Thursday morning.

The district said all students and staff were safe.

“The mayor’s office, the (police department), have been made aware of multiple bomb threats across the city. Right now, there’s no reason to believe any of the threats are credible,” said Francesca Capodilupo, government affairs and communications advisor for Mayor Roberto Alves.

City Hall was among the targets of the threats, but did not go into a shelter-in-place mode, Capodilupo said.

In a statement later on Thursday, Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves said none of the threats were found to be credible after being investigated by city, state and federal law enforcement. He said police are still investigating the threats, but all students and staff at the schools have resumed their normal schedules.

The threats in Danbury come after schools in Brookfield were targeted by at least four bomb threats that began last Friday and continued each school day this week. The threats were sent to Hearst Connecticut Media Group and targeted the homes of school officials.

In a statement on Thursday, Brookfield officials said they will stop providing responses to each threat in an effort to reduce attention to those causing the disturbances, although police will continue to investigate the threats.

“Again, (the threats) are being sent to hundreds of institutions across Connecticut and the nation and responding to them individually lends unwarranted gravitas to these bad actors by responding to them individually,” First Selectman Steve Dunn, Superintendent of Schools John Barile, and Chief of Police John Puglisi said in a statement. “It is not in the best interest of our students, our residents, and our town to do so.”

Similar emails have been sent to schools and universities across multiple states, they added.

Brookfield officials said resource officers in the schools are implementing precautionary measures to ensure the safety of students and staff.

Officials said they were investigating whether the Brookfield and Danbury threats were connected.