Officials closed all Los Angeles Unified School District campuses Tuesday morning after receiving a “credible threat” of violence involving backpacks and packages left at campuses.
Authorities said they plan a search operation of all of LAUSD’s more than 900 schools, including charter schools and special education centers. The nation’s second-largest school district, LAUSD has more than 700,000 students.
“I think it’s important to take this precaution based on what has happened recently and what has happened in the past,” LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines said.
The move comes less than two weeks after two shooters killed 14 people in San Bernardino in what was the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.
Fortunately, this happened before the kids were in school, around 5 AM local time, so they didn’t have to evacuate. Local news here in Los Angeles is still all over this, staying away from scheduled programming to cover this, as so many people are affected.
As I write this, there is a helicopter circling the LAUSD high school that is a couple of blocks away from me.
New York also received a threat today, but it was quickly deemed to be a hoax.
My daughter is in the Santa Monica-Malibu district, and they are all in school today, as are all of the other non-LAUSD districts, as well as most private schools in Los Angeles.
The LAPD is searching every school in the district right now.
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