Two forces investigate hoax bomb threats sent to hundreds of schools
Police in Northern Ireland and Scotland are investigating threatening emails sent to hundreds of schools, with enquiries continuing into messages believed to have originated outside the UK.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said up to 300 schools in Northern Ireland had reported receiving the same email on Monday (19 October), containing a generalised threat.
Similar messages were reported by schools in Scotland, where some establishments were evacuated as a precaution. Police said checks had not identified anything suspicious and the threats were being treated as a hoax.
Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said the force understood the concern and disruption caused to school communities, pupils and parents.
“Our enquiries are ongoing, however, at this stage we consider risk to the public as low,” he said.
The PSNI said it was working with affected schools, the Department of Education and the Education Authority to provide reassurance while investigators sought to establish the source of the emails.
Police Scotland also confirmed that threatening messages had been sent to a number of schools and were being treated as a hoax.
In Glasgow, as many as 192 schools or institutions were reportedly contacted. Some schools in Edinburgh were also evacuated, while a number of establishments in Glasgow briefly closed before reopening.
Police Scotland said officers and staff from its cyber and fraud unit were carrying out extensive enquiries to establish where the messages originated.
The incident prompted hundreds of calls from concerned families in Scotland, while education authorities in both jurisdictions sought to reassure parents and staff. Northern Ireland’s Education Authority said the majority of schools remained open despite the disruption.
The threats were condemned by education officials, who highlighted the distress caused to pupils, families and staff despite police assessing the risk as low.
Investigators are continuing to establish who sent the messages and whether the incidents in Northern Ireland and Scotland are linked to the same source.
The incident highlights the disruption that mass-distributed threatening communications can cause across public services, even when initial checks indicate that there is no credible threat.