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School Threats: LA, NYC Responses Draw Scrutiny

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One day after both New York City and Los Angeles public schools received an email threatening a large scale jihadi attack using guns, bombs, and nerve gas, the focus has shifted to their very different responses.

In an extremely rare move, Los Angeles quickly shut down every school in the city, cancelling class for at least 650,000 students.

"I, as superintendent, am not going to take the chance with the life of a student," Ramon Cortines, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, said.

New York City responded differently, with both the mayor and police commissioner calling the email a hoax and determining that there was no real threat to school children.

"The NYPD intelligence division has been in touch with the FBI throughout the morning, assessing the situation and has come to the conclusion that the threat that was made was not credible," Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

New York City authorities say the email is still being investigated, but as a hoax. It's believed to have originated overseas.

In the email, the name of Allah was not capitalized and no verses from the Koran were used. That along with other factors led to the determination that it was not a credible threat.

Even so, CBN News Terrorism Analyst Erick Stakelbeck said this is still a win for terrorism.

"In the very least this was a great dry run for terrorists because it shows the paranoia and the psychological terror, the confusion you can sow among the American people," he said.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles defended its decision to shut down schools, saying the top priority is to keep kids safe.

"Some used words like 'hoax' –  I don't think it's appropriate. We don't know yet whether it's criminal mischief or testing of cities' vulnerabilities. But we do know that it'll be safe for our children to return to school tomorrow," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said.

Los Angeles is only a short distance away from San Bernardino where 14 people were killed two weeks ago following a Christmas party.

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About The Author

Caitlin Burke Headshot
Caitlin
Burke

Caitlin Burke serves as National Security Correspondent and a general assignment reporter for CBN News. She has also hosted the CBN News original podcast, The Daily Rundown. Some of Caitlin’s recent stories have focused on the national security threat posed by China, America’s military strength, and vulnerabilities in the U.S. power grid. She joined CBN News in July 2010, and over the course of her career, she has had the opportunity to cover stories both domestically and abroad. Caitlin began her news career working as a production assistant in Richmond, Virginia, for the NBC affiliate WWBT