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2nd LD: Around 900 Los Angeles schools closed due to bomb threat

Xinhua, December 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

All Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools will stay closed Tuesday in response to a reported bomb threat, Schools Superintendent Ramon Cortines said.

Police said the threat was called in to a School Board member. The threat is involving backpacks and packages left at campuses.

The closures applied to all LAUSD campuses, around 900 of them. Los Angeles Unified School District is the second-largest school district in the United States, which has more than 700,000 students.

School officials told parents to keep their kids home and retrieve those already taken to school. Students who have already been at school will be companied with school staffs and teachers until children contacted with their parents.

Board of Education President Steve Zimmer said the district was acting "out of an abundance of caution." He urged parents to negotiate time off to be with kids and employers to show maximum flexibility.

Cortines told a news conference he has ordered all campuses searched Tuesday. Fearing the safety of schools and students, Cortines said he couldn't take a chance, so he asked police to search all campuses, adult school and early education centers before reopening Wednesday. Whether they will be open on Wednesday depends on the searching results later Tuesday.

"Earlier this morning, we did receive an electronic threat that mentioned the safety of our schools," school police Chief Steve Zipperman said. As a result of that threat, the Los Angeles School Police Department, as well as the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI were notified, and right now, the threat is still being analyzed.

"In an abundance of caution, as Superintendent Cortines has indicated, we have chosen to close our schools today until we can be absolutely sure that our campuses are safe," said Zipperman. Endit