Dozens of institutions across the country received email threats Thursday afternoon, causing evacuations and sweeps of buildings.
At this time it unclear if the threats, which have been sent to places including the University of Washington in Seattle, throughout San Francisco and Penn State University in Pennsylvania, are connected. The FBI said it is aware of the threats and is working with law enforcement to provide assistance.
In Seattle, UW noted in a campus-wide alert that the FBI had “advised that the email is not a credible threat.”
The university concluded sweeps of possibly affected buildings.
The Thurston County Courthouse in Olympia, Washington and the Park Record newspaper in Park City, Utah, also received similarly threatening emails. People have been allowed back inside buildings at those locations, according to tweets on their verified Twitter accounts.
In California, the Riverside Sheriff’s Office had “an influx of email threats” and is taking them seriously, although no threat has been substantiated.
The San Francisco Police Department responded to reports of bomb threats at locations throughout the city.
“We have received information that several other cities across the United States have received similar threats,” police said.
Pennsylvania State Police are “investigating some bomb threats in the eastern part of the state,” a spokesman for the department tells CNN.
“Penn State University Police, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is investigating a message received by individuals in multiple locations on campus and across the state,” the university said in a statement. “Police say this does not appear to be a legitimate threat, however, an investigation is ongoing.”
