School bomb threats treated as hoaxes across four jurisdictions

Authorities across Italy, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland treated a wave of emailed school bomb threats on Wednesday, November 11, as hoaxes, but the alerts disrupted classes and led to precautionary evacuations in parts of Italy and Scotland. No concrete danger was found in checks reported by Italian officials, and police investigations into the messages’ origin continued.

Italy’s Education Ministry said more than 6,300 schools received the email. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said law enforcement checks had found no concrete threat. Officials did not immediately know how many schools had been evacuated. Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said at least 300 schools had been affected by the alerts, while the ministry’s larger figure counted schools that received the message.

In Scotland, Police Scotland said around 1,000 schools received threatening emails distributed widely across the United Kingdom. The force assessed them as hoaxes and said they did not represent a credible threat to the public. Some schools were evacuated as a precaution, including schools in Edinburgh, where pupils returned after about 15 minutes, according to the City of Edinburgh Council. Police...