DALLAS – Authorities say bomb threats sent to dozens of schools, universities and other locations across North Texas and the U.S. appear to be a hoax.
Several North Texas police departments posted on social media acknowledging that they were investigating bomb threats in their respective cities. None of the threats were deemed credible, although the Wylie Municipal Complex was evacuated and closed for the day as a precaution.
Despite a lack of any credible threat, the FBI’s Dallas branch encouraged people to report suspicious activity:
“We are aware of the recent bomb threats made in cities around the country, and we remain in touch with our law enforcement partners to provide assistance,” the bureau said. “As always, we encourage the public to remain vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activities which could represent a threat to public safety.”
That same message was posted online Thursday afternoon by the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
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The New York City Police Department said the threats sent Thursday were meant to cause disruption and compel recipients into sending money and are not considered credible.
Some of the emails had the subject line: "Think Twice." At least one North Texas business received one with the subject line: “You don’t have much time.”
Many of the emailed threats asked for some sort of ransom to stop an explosion, including some asking for Bitcoin payments – an email hoax the Federal Trade Commission has warned about before.
The Palm Beach County, Florida sheriff's office and the Boise, Idaho police said they had no reason to believe that threats made to locations in those areas were credible.
Across the country, some schools were closed early and others were evacuated because of the threats. Penn State University noticed students via a campus alert. Near Atlanta, people were ushered out of a courthouse.
Police Arlington, Dallas, Carrollton, Corinth, Fort Worth, Frisco, Irving, Garland, Southlake, and Wylie all reported responding to businesses and agencies that received threats.
Dallas Police said it responded to nearly 20 incidents, Irving Police reported going to 11, and Arlington Police late Thursday that it went to 8 calls during the day.
Lt. Christopher Cook said that each incident had to be taken seriously, which tied down resources.
"The first couple of calls, there were a lot of resources out there," Cook said. "But quickly it was evident that there was no validity to these claims."
"Some of the 911 calls we received, people were panicked. It still pulls officers away from answering calls of service or being proactive on patrols."
For Criminologist and Executive Director for the School of Criminology at Tarleton State University, Dr. Alex del Carmen, today's threats were groundbreaking.
"This is the first time we've seen something at this scale," del Carmen said. "They're going to be paying close attention to how we're responding to this, what our current capabilities are, what resources have been tied down, and what people are vulnerable to."
Del Carmen fears that copycats might follow after today's threats.
"Think about the fact that today we had thousands of people that were mobilized throughout the entire United States, by virtue of the fact that one person clicked the enter key. They impacted everyone without pulling the trigger," del Carmen said.
Investigators with the FBI are now trying to trace the source of the emails, one source even told WFAA that the attacks may have originated from overseas in Eastern Europe.
Contributing: WFAA.com Staff