Schools open as normal, after threat deemed a hoax
According to a press release from the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE), overnight on the evening of April 8, several local school districts received a vaguely threatening email, that landed in the spam folders of multiple superintendents.
“A threat of violence at school was emailed late this weekend to the superintendents of many Sonoma County school districts in what is believed to be a widespread hoax by a party outside the United States. The threats, also sent to other school districts around California, appear to all contain the same messaging and language. They omit any specifics about days, times, or even the names of schools or districts. They also appear similar in approach to a spate of hoax threats perpetrated in the United Kingdom in recent weeks. Police have indicated the threats are not credible but are working with affected districts to ensure safety and security,” the press release said.
“The Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) Information Technology department is looking into this matter as well. It does not appear there was any breach in school district internet or email security, nor in the security of school staff or students. As an extra precaution, SCOE is forwarding the matter to the Northern California Computer Crimes Task Force for further investigation.”
“While we don’t believe these threats are in any way credible, schools are working closely with local law enforcement to determine who is responsible,” said County Superintendent Steve Herrington. “Student safety, security, and wellbeing are the highest priority in Sonoma County Schools.”
A message posted on Twitter by the hacker group Apophis Squad seems to indicate that message was sent on Sunday night on accident, and that in fact they had hoped to send it Monday morning for maximum chaos and impact. “We would like to say sorry for the small amount of evacs (sic) this has caused,” read the Twitter message.
Healdsburg Superintendent Chris Vanden Heuvel released the following letters to HUSD families: “I am writing to let you know that last night, I received an anonymous email threatening an attack on a school. Though the email was very vague, I immediately went down to the Healdsburg Police Department to notify authorities. HPD was highly responsive and several officers began investigating. It became apparent quickly that the email had originated in Europe, from a group that has tried to create panic by emailing threats in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the group referenced yesterday’s email on their Twitter account, apologizing to followers for emailing schools too early, and thus not inciting mass school evacuations. Finally, I was able to reach other area Superintendents who found the same exact email in their inboxes. Therefore, HPD, along with other law enforcement agencies in the county deemed the threat to be a hoax and thus to not be credible leading us to decide to keep our schools open today.”
“As you may know, my own children attend our schools and they will be in class today. The email was clearly intended to incite panic and presents no threat. That said, I wanted to notify you immediately to make sure you were informed with the most current information. Student and staff safety are of paramount importance for us and last night’s email threat was treated very seriously and investigated diligently. The decision to continue with classes today was made after careful consideration and guidance from Law Enforcement, the County Office of Education and other school districts.”
Other north county districts to receive the threat include Windsor and Cloverdale, both of which also held classes today as usual.
