Los Angeles shuts all its schools after email threatens students

Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck said the email mentioned assault rifles and machine pistols and implied the use of explosives.

Officials offered few details about the nature of the threat, calling it only an “electronic threat” that came in the form of a “message”.

According to CNN, the threat was sent to a school board member via email which was routed through Frankfurt, Germany.

“I think the circumstances in neighboring San Bernardino”, Cortines said, referring to the mass shooting that left 14 dead.

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti addresses the media at Los Angeles Unified School District headquart … Beck defended that decision.

“I’d be scared to go back to school tomorrow, they should just start winter break already because they could do the bombings any day, canceling school for one day won’t stop them”, sophomore Kimberly Chavez said.

NBC Los Angeles’ Jonathan Lloyd and NBC News’ Andrew Blankstein contriubted to this report.

The Los Angeles school district on Wednesday will reopen more than 1,500 school buildings that were shut for a day and searched after an emailed threat of violence. The threat was said to be “non-credible”. Cortines reviewed the threat, which was emailed to a number of board members around 10 p.m. on Monday and which closed down around 1,100 schools on Tuesday. “Los Angeles might make their decision based on different factors than NY and that would be the case throughout the country”.

The nation’s two biggest school systems – New York City and Los Angeles – received threats Tuesday of a large-scale jihadi attack with guns and bombs.

“We are very comfortable that this is not a credible threat”, Bratton said, and they are “concerned with people overreacting to it”.

A school district spokesman said it involved rucksacks, and they were exercising “an abundance of caution”. Rudy Perez told the Associated Press.

The threat that forced Tuesday’s closure of every public school in Los Angeles was not determined to be credible.

Bratton, who previously served as Los Angeles police chief from 2002 to 2009, said the person behind the threat may have been inspired by the television series “Homeland”.

According to LA school police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and LAPD were contacted late Monday, which would mean within 90 minute or so of the threat coming in.

Los Angeles’ reaction was a sharp contrast to that of NY, which received a similar message Tuesday threatening its school district but dismissed it as a hoax and held classes as scheduled. “We are absolutely convinced that our schools are safe”, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference.

Bratton said the person who wrote the note claimed to be a jihadist but made errors that made it clear the person was a prankster.

Once a child enters the doors of a school, it then becomes the responsibility of the administration to protect them.

Cortines said his school district often receives threats. He urged parents to negotiate time off to be with kids and employers to show maximum flexibility.

Parent Lupita Vela says she was terrified after getting the announcement, especially in light of the recent San Bernardino attack.