Bomb threats emailed to Suffolk school districts seeking bitcoin payoffs deemed noncredible, police say
All bomb threats sent to “multiple” Suffolk County school districts — seeking bitcoin payoffs — have been investigated and dismissed as not credible, Suffolk police said on Tuesday, as Gov. Kathy Hochul directed New York State Police to investigate these "swatting" incidents.
"More than 50 school districts across New York have received disturbing 'swatting' threats today including in Central New York, Long Island, the Southern Tier and the North Country," Hochul said in a statement on Tuesday. "I want to reassure parents that their children are safe at school — swatting threats are false and intended to cause panic and scare students, teachers and families."
Suffolk police said: “All threats have been investigated and deemed noncredible.”
“The threats received by Suffolk County schools are similar to incidents reported to police departments on the East End as well as in Nassau County,” Suffolk police said.
Nassau police Det. Lt. Richard LeBrun said Tuesday, "The Nassau County Police Department is investigating numerous instances of suspicious emails last night involving multiple school districts throughout the state and Nassau County. Our Homeland Security Unit immediately contacted those school superintendents and all leads are being fully investigated by our Detective Division in coordination with the New York State Police."
The Town of East Hampton police said many of its districts got “mass emails” overnight Monday that were ‘threatening” and worded in a similar fashion as missives sent to school districts around the state in the past week.
“Law intelligence enforcement deemed the threat to be non credible, and part of a robo email scheme,” the town police statement said.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the East Hampton Town Police Department deployed teams of officers to each school to complete a thorough search and clear each building.”
In a majority of instances in this latest swatting outbreak, “an encrypted email is sent to a school employee and states a bomb, or bombs, are planted in an unspecified school building within the district and will be detonated unless a bitcoin payment is received,” Suffolk police said.
In a letter to school districts last week, Hochul outlined additional steps school leaders should take, including reviewing their response plans, meeting with staff about their roles in a “critical incident,” holding required drills with students, and working with the police.