A threat against a Massachusetts high school was e-mailed to 5,000 people over the weekend, leading to a police investigation.
An email reached the inboxes of children attending Gardner High School and their parents on Friday and contained a threat to the school, according to local police and school administration. In a post on its Facebook page, the school said that the parents were reporting the email that appeared to have been sent from a school account.
It is not clear what kind of threat was issued against the school.
“We want to apologize for the graphic content in this email,” said the school. “We are working closely with the Gardner Police Department to investigate this and determine the source of the email.”
The police confirmed that an email was sent to thousands of parents and students containing a threat against the school with “racial phrases”, according to a statement from Gardner police. A follow-up email was sent with graphic images, apparently taken from the internet, which alleged that the threat against the school would be carried out on Sunday.
The emails appeared to have been sent through the provider “plusportals.com,” which is used by the district.
“The Gardner Police Department checked the schools to make sure they were safe and no threats were found at this point,” said the police. “The police department is working with the city school and technology department to investigate this matter and will continue to do our best to ensure the safety of students and staff.”
