The citywide bomb threat in Los Angeles on Tuesday, which put many parents into hysteric reactions, appears to be a hoax. The threat that came through an email on Monday night had the whole city into a standstill while authorities were trying to investigate.
The content of the email was to scare the country's school districts, stating that the plan has already been set in motion and bombs are planted in many of the schools' classroom.
Los Angeles officials, headed by police Superintendent Ramon Cortines, immediately closed every school in the city that caused panic to all parents and more than 640,000 students of the whole district.
The decision made by Los Angeles police disrupted so many lives of people, causing major inconvenience. As a matter of fact, People shared that some parents didn't even know what to do, just like a certain Rosa Outar who is a mother of three and works as a front desk clerk in a hotel.
"So now I can't go to work because someone needs to stay home with them, and my husband is already at work. So this is really inconveniencing families who need the money," she said.
Meanwhile, New York City officials criticized the decision of the city of Los Angeles for closing all the schools. They said that they received the same threat but opted to stay on with their lives after calling the email message as a hoax.
They added that it was obviously a work of an amateur trying to imitate something that happens on TV series, Washington Post reported.
Former Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton, who is now a Commissioner of the New York City Police, said that the response shown by LA officials is a perfect example of overreaction.
He said that the email was a hoax and appropriate action should have been different to avoid any panic. He added that the threat is not credible "and is not something we are concerned with."
"What we are concerned with is overreacting to it. We will stay aware, we will stay involved, but at all costs cannot start overreacting to what will probably be a series of copycat-type initiatives," Bratton explained.
Meanwhile, Cortines explained in his defense that every threat should be taken seriously, regardless if it is real or not, following the terrorist attack in San Bernardino. He added that it is very important to have an added precaution to avoid any attacks, KTLA reported.
