Bomb Threats Sent to Schools Across the State of Texas
What took place on the morning of December 8th? What were the responses of the schools and law enforcement? And who was really behind this?
As I sat down with my cup of coffee Sunday morning, I opened up my computer and decided to go through my emails. It had been several days since I had a chance to do so because I had been dealing with the loss of a loved one and my children and I had spent the entire weekend with our family. As I began to scroll down, I noticed that I had an email from my children’s school titled Bomb Threat. As a parent that is something that you never wish to see. And admittedly it spiked a slight panic as I clicked to open it up. Here is a photo of the email I received.
So, as it turns out, on the morning of December 8th, all of the school districts across the state of Texas were notified of potential bomb threats that were set to take place at 1 pm that Friday. A mass email was sent out to every district, including those that did not receive a direct threat, and all were placed on high alert. Parents were notified of the possible threat and were told that the schools, local law enforcement, and the FBI were working to conduct an investigation, but that nothing gave any indication to think this was a legitimate threat.
I do not know how exactly the parents in the other districts were notified. But I personally have some concerns over the manor in which I discovered this information. Luckily my children were not in school that day. But as a mother, I will say that I am not happy in the slightest that I was not given a phone call. Due to my personal family matters, I was not able to check emails or check the news cycle. And because they were not considerate enough to call, I did not find out until two days later. In my eyes, this is completely unacceptable, and I do feel that other modes of communication need to be considered in the future in regard to emergencies such as this. And if the school makes the decision not to shut down the campus and keep the children at school, the parents should still have the choice to remove them. Needless to say, I will be contacting the school that my children attend, as well as the local law enforcement, to have this discussion and to find out more information.
Another concern I had is this, if you look at the email, it shows that I did not receive this message until 12:22 pm. This threat, if it turned out to be real, was supposed to happen at 1:00 pm, a mere 38 minutes later. If you ask me, that is far too close for comfort. How exactly is that enough time for real action to be taken, if necessary, to protect these kids? That does not provide enough time for parents to be properly notified and make their way to the school to pick up their children. Because I for one would not want my child to remain locked down in a school, if those were the measures taken, with the lingering threat of a deadly explosion. There should also be ample time given to clear the campus if need be. And it seems that many other parents held the same view as they rushed to the schools to get their children, even though the campuses were remaining in session. This is from San Antonio Express News:
Schools in San Antonio and elsewhere in Texas received threatening emails Friday from an unidentified source claiming to be a Russian terrorist organization, prompting campus searches and other precautions even as officials said law enforcement agencies had discounted its credibility.
The 1 p.m. time of a bombing mentioned in the threats came and went without incident, and the FBI released a statement referring to the emails as a hoax.
Area school systems sent messages to parents about the threats, which reportedly landed in the in-boxes of schools across the nation.
Reports of parents pulling their kids out of schools early were widespread enough to prompt City Council Member Manny Pelaez to post an appeal on X, formerly Twitter, urging them not to panic, to “drive slowly” if they felt compelled to get to a school, and emphasizing that law enforcement agencies didn’t think the threat was real.
Pelaez also said that “a lot of schools have decided to close down early today,” but Northside, North East and San Antonio independent school districts, the largest in Bexar County, said they had not closed any of their campuses.
I am glad to know that some parents were able to make it to the schools with enough time to get their children. I would have done the same had my children been in school that day. Rather be safe than sorry as the saying goes. Although it is unclear as to how far ahead of the 1 pm threat they had to make that decision.
Here is the statement that was released from Council Member Pelaez:
Some school districts, such as Bosque County, Bell County, and Bee County did err on the side of caution and made the decision to send the children home early. Here is a statement that was released from Beeville ISD:
Living in the times we do now, it is becoming more and more difficult to trust the education system. We have witnessed so many school shootings over the years and we have been witnessing the rise of woke ideology being pushed onto our children. Many parents are now making the choice to homeschool because they feel that they are safer that way. Safe from any potential danger and safe from the indoctrination. Either way, as parents it is our job to ensure that these schools are following proper protocols and doing their absolute best to keep our kids safe. As sad as it may be, we have come to a place where we must remain vigilant and stay on top of them the best that we can.
But regardless of all the faults and mishaps, the last concerning matter is that the schools and law enforcement are saying that this threat was produced by someone claiming to be involved with a Russian terrorist organization. I could only manage to find two articles that went into further detail regarding this, and only one of them mentioned the claimed name. So as of right now, until more information comes out about this, if any does at all, this is what is being said:
According to a statement from Hudson ISD issued via the ParentSquare app, a person who identifies himself as Igor Ignatovic claims that bombs will be set off at various Texian (sic) schools at 1 p.m.
He goes on to say that he is with a Russian terrorist organization and that he and his partners have planted explosives in multiple schools. The statement says that the mass terrorist event is in response to the ongoing Ukrainian support in their war against Russia.
-Danny Merrell, The 106.3 Buzz
As someone who tends to question everything, I had many questions arise upon reading this. Questions of where and how they acquired this information, and questions of whether this was actually a Russian organization or if this was just another false narrative being played out. Was this a push by our own government to produce mass fear and panic or push some kind of narrative? Was this some kind of roque radical group? Was it a legitimate terrorist group? Who was really behind this? As of right now, there is no way to know the truth of the matter. But the statement about this being a response to the ongoing Ukrainian support against Russia definitely raises some red flags. Here is what the FBI had to say about the incident:
“We are aware of the statewide hoax school threats being received by schools across Texas today,” the FBI said in a statement. “The FBI is aware of the numerous hoax incidents wherein a bomb threat at a school is made. The FBI takes hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk. While we have no information to indicate a specific and credible threat, we will continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention. We urge the public to remain vigilant and report any and all suspicious activity and/or individuals to law enforcement immediately.”
-News4SA
Bomb threats are nothing new, I think we all understand that. But the fact that this was not just isolated to one school like it usually is and was a statewide threat is incredibly concerning. And the fact that this is being tied to the churning war machine and funding to other countries is even more so. We live in tumultuous times. And knowing that, we must continue to protect our families and ourselves, and we must continue to push for the truth. If you are interested in sifting through any of the reports about this, they are all listed below:
FBI Investigates as Texas Schools Targeted by Bogus Bomb Threats in San Antonio
Emailed bomb threats in several Texas public schools not 'deemed credible,' TEA says
Statewide bomb threat hoax hits Texas Schools
School districts in S.A. to parents: We got a threat from someone claiming to be Russian
Statewide bomb hoax threats hit Texas schools, including El Paso
FBI investigating hoax school threats statewide
Richland County schools receive mass email bomb threat
Tuloso-Midway ISD takes 3NEWS through security measures in place as statewide bomb threat is issued
FBI El Paso warns of statewide school threat ‘hoax’
FBI: Mass email threat sent to Central Texas schools a hoax
Threatening email sent to Central Texas schools not credible, police say
FBI: Bomb threat emails sent to schools across Texas are ‘clearly hoax threats’
Bryan And College Station ISD Response To Statewide Bomb Threat
Dozens of Texas ISDS Ramp Up Security Due To Mass Bomb Threat