Chilling Email Details Threat to Attack NYC Schools

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton addresses an email threat sent to Los Angeles and New York City schools Tuesday. Photo courtesy of the NYPD

The email that shut down all of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on Tuesday — and a similar one sent to New York City school district officials — warned of mass killings by bombs, hand guns and assault rifles, according to excerpts from the letter printed by ABC News.

According to ABC, the message sent to NYC officials said, “I am a devout Muslim, and was once against violence, but I have teamed up with a local jihadist cell as it is the only way I’ll be able to accomplish my massacre the correct way.”

The letter reportedly continued: “Something big is going down. Something very big. It will make national headlines. Perhaps, even international ones.”

The author of the letter claimed he was bullied and rejected at “one of the district high schools,” according to ABC.

“Every school in the New York City district is being targeted. We have bombs hidden in lockers already at several schools,” the author reportedly wrote, adding that “nerve gas” would also be used in the attacks.

Below is the full text of the letter sent to LAUSD, as re-printed by ABC. (NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said the LAUSD email was “almost exactly the same” as the one received in NYC.)

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

I am emailing you to inform you of the happenings on Tuesday, 12/15/15.

Something big is going down. Something very big. It will make national headlines. Perhaps, even international ones. You see, my last 4 years here at one of the district high schools has been absolute hell. Pure, unmitigated, agony. The bullying, the loneliness, the rejection... it is never-ending. And for what? Just because I’m ‘different’?

No. No more. I am a devout Muslim, and was once against violence, but I have teamed up with a local jihadist cell as it is the only way I’ll be able to accomplish my massacre the correct way. I would not be able to do it alone. Me, and my 32 comrades, will die tomorrow in the name of Allah. Every school in the L.A. Unified district is being targeted. We have bombs hidden in lockers already at several schools. They are strategically placed and are meant to crumble the foundations of the very buildings that monger so much hate and discrimination. They are pressure cooker bombs, hidden in backpacks around the schools. They are loaded with 20 lbs. of gunpowder, for maximum damage. They will be detonated via Cell Phone. Not only are there bombs, but there are nerve gas agents set to go off at a specific time: during lunch hour. To top it off, my brothers in Allah and I have Kalashnikov rifles, Glock 18 Machine pistols, and multiple handheld grenades. The students at every school in the L.A. Unified district will be massacred, mercilessly. And there is nothing you can do to stop it.

If you do end up trying to, by perhaps, beefing up security, or canceling classes for the day, it won’t matter. Your security will not be able to stop us. We are an army of Allah. If you cancel classes, the bombings will take place regardless, and we will bring our guns to the streets and offices of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Bakersfield, and San Diego.

I wish you the best luck. It is time to pray to allah, as this may be your last day.

Bratton called LAUSD’s decision to shut down all its campuses Tuesday “a significant overreaction.”

He said the NYPD was “very comfortable that this is not a credible threat” and was “concerned with people overreacting to it.”

Elements of the email threat appeared to mirror recent episodes of the Showtime series “Homeland,” Bratton said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

“It was so generic, so outlandish,” NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio added.

“Any time we believe a threat actually signifies a real danger, of course we’ll alert New Yorkers, we’ll take all the proper measures,“ De Blasio said. “But it’s very important to realize there are people who want us to fundamentally change our lifestyle and our values, and we will never give into that.”