Local school districts among those receiving threatening emails

NORWALK — Several local school districts were among those across the state that received emails about bomb threats. Edison, New London, Norwalk, and Sandusky city schools all received bomb threat emails; all are considering the threats to be hoaxes and all four schools were in session on Monday. Here is a transcipt of one of the emails received in Norwalk: "Hello there, my name is Ivan Pichugin I am a owner of a Russian Terrorist organization called (name in Russian), I would read this message as carefully as I can, my partners have planted multiple explosives in your American school buildings, we do not care if you believe this or not, we are tired of the Ukranian support you guys have been giving them, the detonation will happen in 2PM, we might have failed to detonate the explosives in Texas but we promise that this time we won't fail, let the game begin." Apparently, a week ago, schools in Texas received similar email threats. Norwalk Superintendent Brad Cooley said approximately 100 students didn't come to school on Monday as word of the hoax had gotten around. "Attendance is a little bit rough today," Cooley said. "(But) as a school district, we are going to keep people informed." He also said the threatening email went to local school principals and not to the administration. Edison Superintendent Corey Ream posted a message about the threats on the district's Facebook page. "School districts across Ohio have received an email containing an unspecified bomb threat," the post reads. "It did not mention any specific school districts or buildings. Edison was one of many that received the communication. "We immediately contacted all three of the law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction over our schools and have been in communication with them as well as many area districts. Local law enforcement has been working with their federal partners as well." The Facebook post also said there was no specific threat to any Edison school. "There is no credible connection to our schools or our community," Ream stated in the Facebook post. "The Edison Local School District will operate on a normal schedule tomorrow and will have an increased law enforcement presence." In New London, superintendent Brad Romano over the weekend sent an email out to district parents. "Earlier this afternoon, our school district, along with several others across Huron County and the state, received a threatening email indicating the presence of a bomb," Romano wrote. "This email originated from another country and it did not mention any school specifically. "We immediately contacted local law enforcement who have been in communication with the county sheriff's office and regional FBI field office who are working to determine the source of the email. It is believed that the threat lacks credibility and that the email sent was part of a larger-scale incident affecting multiple schools statewide," he wrote. Sandusky schools also posted information about the alleged threat on their Facebook page. "Attention Blue Streak families: Today Sandusky schools administration received an email which made threats against schools across Ohio and the United States," the Facebook post states. "We take any threat seriously and we have already been in contact with the Sandusky Police Department. The threats were investigated and it was determined there is no threat with no connection to our school district." The Ohio School Public Relations Association sent a communication out to area schools also stating that the bomb threats were not credible. "A series of concerning emails, allegedly from a Russian terrorist organization, have been sent to school districts across Ohio, threatening violence with explosive devices within schools," the communication stated. "These threats mirror similar incidents that occurred in Texas school districts last Friday, which were investigated and found to be noncredible. "According to assessments from the Ohio Homeland Security (OHS)/Terrorism Analysis Unit (TAU) and the Statewide Terrorism Analysis & Crime Center (STACC), the email appears to be part of a swatting campaign or hoaxes, with no credible threat detected."