Threatening emails prompt school evacuations in Northern Ireland

Threatening emails sent to schools across Northern Ireland prompted evacuations and other disruption on Monday, October 19, as the Police Service of Northern Ireland began urgent enquiries. Education Minister Paul Givan said 160 schools received the threat, and that officials were not treating it as viable. The supplied reports do not establish the outcome of the police investigation or independently confirm the threat’s credibility. The PSNI said it had received reports of an email sent to a number of schools and was liaising with them. The Education Authority said it was engaging with police and would act on their advice. It also said communications had been issued to schools and that it was supporting school leaders. The message, as described in reports from schools, claimed an explosive device had been placed inside a building and referred to planned attacks and the establishment of Sharia law. Those claims came from the email itself and were not independently verified in the reports. Givan said the threat had caused alarm and disruption, and that some schools had closed. He said schools had been advised to contact local police and that, absent a specifically identified...