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Bomb threat triggers search of School District HQApr 04, 2011 (The Philadelphia Inquirer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- On this much, Police and school officials can agree: An e-mail sent to the Philadelphia School District over the weekend threatened that a bomb would detonate at the district headquarters Monday. But on whether Superintendent Arlene Ackerman herself was named as a target of violence, opinions vary. Though district officials have said the message threatened Ackerman's life, police denied that. "There is no direct threat to Dr. Ackerman," Philadelphia Lt. Raymond Evers said. "There was a threat to the building itself." District Spokeswoman Shana Kemp said that Evers's characterization was incorrect. "The [e-mail] is addressed to her, and her name is mentioned," Kemp said. "There was very clearly a threat toward her and the district." School officials and police declined to release the e-mail, citing an ongoing investigation. Sources said that the e-mail claimed that "a message" needed to be sent to the district. Police are in the process of trying to determine who sent the e-mail. Evers said it was signed by someone who identified themselves as a school district employee. The e-mail was sent to the district's webmaster Saturday night, addressed to Ackerman. The message was immediately forwarded to the district's head of safety as well as the police. Sunday and Monday, police conducted a thorough search of the district headquarters on 440 N. Broad Street, using bomb-sniffing dogs and members of the department's homeland security unit. Officers screened employees as they entered for the start of the workweek. "Anytime there's a bomb threat, we take it seriously," Evers said. The school district assigned additional security to Ackerman and the building, Kemp said. Employees are being urged to report anything suspicious. "We're just asking everyone to be on the alert, and to be cognizant of their surroundings," she said. The e-mail was the first death threat that Ackerman has received, Kemp said. The district asked the police to investigate a possible threat last December, Kemp said, after a reporter for the Philadelphia Tribune allegedly raised the subject with Ackerman, but no threats were confirmed, Kemp said. Contact staff writer Allison Steele at 215-854-2641 or [email protected]. Follow the Inquirer at www.Twitter.com/PhillyInquirer and www.Facebook.com/PhillyInquirer To see more of The Philadelphia Inquirer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.philly.com/inquirer. Copyright (c) 2011, The Philadelphia Inquirer Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |