Threats to Long Island schools have tripled compared to a year earlier, officials say

 Threats against Long Island schools have more than tripled just a month into the new school year, with county police departments reporting more than 110 incidents, compared to 35 a year ago. 

In Nassau County, 80 school threats were reported compared to 23 in the same period last year, police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said Tuesday during a news conference in Garden City about school safety.

All of the 80 threats were “unfounded,” County Executive Bruce Blakeman said.

In Suffolk County, police reported 32 school threats from Aug. 1 through Sept. 24, compared to a dozen such incidents in that time frame last year, according to county police.

"I think there are some people out there that think it will enhance their self-esteem by doing something like this and having it picked up on social media and causing the sensation," Blakeman said.

School safety became front and center again in the public mind after two students and two teachers were shot and killed, allegedly by a 14-year-old student, Sept. 4 at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.

In the past few weeks, threats were reported at several local public schools. Kellenberg Memorial High School, a private school in Uniondale, faced multiple threats made by the same person, Ryder said.

Ryder said in some cases, one person was behind multiple threats to Nassau schools.

“The actors are a lot less than the crimes,” he said.

Michael Bitsko, a detective with Nassau police, said police are anticipating that most of the cases involve juveniles.

The latest threat authorities announced came Tuesday morning at William L. Buck elementary school in Valley Stream.

“There was an individual in the community who thought they heard gunshots,” Blakeman said. “Since it was in close proximity of the school, we take the same protective measures that we would do if there was any other kind of threat.”

Unal Karakas, superintendent of the Valley Stream 24 district, said in a letter to parents that the school had a brief lockout around 10:20 a.m. Tuesday. Police found no threat to the school.

Last week in Franklin Square, Willow Road Elementary School, which is part of the Valley Stream 13 district, reported a threat when its main office received a phone call indicating there was someone outside the school with a firearm. The school was placed under lockdown and police later found the threat was not credible.

“Our current information from law enforcement indicates that this incident may have been a swatting situation, which has been occurring across Nassau County and other areas of the country,” Superintendent Judith LaRocca wrote to parents Sept. 23.

Swatting means to make a false report of an ongoing serious crime in order to elicit a response from law enforcement.

Regarding where the threats originate, “Some are local,” Blakeman said at the news conference. “Some are in other areas of the country. We've had some threats from overseas.”

Addressing the financial cost of such threats, Blakeman said, "Obviously it is a cost, but we budgeted for that. ... [Whoever is] doing this has to stop and think of what kind of human being they want to be. Do they want to be a human being that scares people and causes us to have false alarms and waste valuable resources that could be used in other areas?"

Ryder urged the public to “report, don’t repost.”

“Do not repost what you got. Call 911,” he said. “It goes out like wildfire and spreads through all the school districts.” 

Officials also reminded parents to have a conversation with their children about the seriousness of making such threats.

“It's not a joke,” Ryder said. “If a cop or a civilian dies responding to that 911 call, that child is going to be held responsible for the death of that officer or that civilian. So again, please educate your kids.”

By Dandan Zou

dandan.zou@newsday.com@DandanZou

Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.