Threats of terrorist attack on schools in New York was reviewed by officials and was considered as a hoax.
The emailed threats to school officials spoke of teams of jihadists using bombs, guns and nerve gas to attack public schools. The same email, almost identical in their wording, was routed in Frankfurt, Germany. Officials said it is from the same person.
"We've come to the conclusion that we must continue to keep our school system open. In fact, it's important - very important not to overreact in situations like this," Bill de Blasio, New York's mayor, said.
The threat was sent to an Education Department official claiming that the writer had 138 jihadist friends who would support him. "The students at every school in the New York City school district will be massacred, mercilessly. And there is nothing you can do to stop it," the email read.
Carme Fariña, New York City schools chancellor, contacted the police department right away after receiving the email about the threat of a terrorist attack.
"The mayor, Bratton and myself made a joint decision to keep schools open. Safety is my first priority under all circumstances, but we felt very confident this was the right thing to do," Fariña said in a report by CBS New York.
"There was nothing credible about the threat. It was so generic, so outlandish, and posed to numerous school systems simultaneously," the New York mayor said in a report by New York Post.
Bill Bratton, New York Police Department commissioner, said the threat on schools appeared like plot lines from "Homeland."
"In reviewing it, I think the instigator of the threat may be a 'Homeland' fan ... it [the threats made] mirrors a lot of the recent episodes of 'Homeland,' " Bratton said.
The former police chief of Los Angeles said they will not be overreacting to the threats they have received.
"We will stay aware, we will stay involved." Threats of terrorist attack in New York schools will probably just be a series of copycat types.
