New York City police commissioner Bill Bratton told reporters on Tuesday that the closure of the Los Angeles school system earlier in the morning due to an unspecified threat was a “significant overreaction.”
Bratton, a former LAPD chief, revealed that New York officials received the same threat and deemed it a hoax.
Mayor Bill de Blasio supported that contention, saying, “There was nothing credible about the threat. It was so outlandish.”
At a news conference later in the day, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said without identifying his critics, “I think it’s irresponsible, based on facts that have yet to be determined, to criticize that decision.”
During the same press conference, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said, “It is very easy for people to jump to conclusions … but decisions need to be made in a matter of minutes.“
A 17-year-old Highland Park student was killed crossing the street shortly after the announcement of the schools closure when he was hit by a flatbed truck.
Beck told reporters that the implied threat involved explosive devices, while the specific threat was an attack with assault rifles and machine pistols.
New York officials claim the threat was issued as a “generic” email sent to several American cities. L.A. authorities say it has technical origins in Germany, but they believe it was actually sent from a location “much closer” than that.
The threat prompted the closure of the entire Los Angeles Unified School District, which is the second largest in the country, serving more than 640,000 students in the L.A. area. There are more than 900 schools and 187 public charter schools in the district.
For his part, Bratton dismissed the threat by suggesting that its sender appeared to have watched a lot of the Showtime series “Homeland.”