Chicago Jewish Day School Evacuated Over Bomb Threat

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A private Jewish school in the Edgewater neighborhood was evacuated Tuesday morning, after receiving a bomb threat, which police later determined to be false.

Chicago police said they responded to a call of a bomb threat at the Chicago Jewish Day School at Sheridan Road and Thorndale Avenue around 9:10 a.m.

The school evacuated the building after receiving the threat.

A police canine unit assisted in a search of the building and parking lot, and determined everything was safe shortly after 11 a.m.

Police said students would be allowed to return to school late Tuesday morning.

A handful of other Jewish schools and community centers across the country also were the targets of bomb threats on Tuesday.

David Posnack Jewish Day School in Davie, Florida, about 25 miles north of Miami, was evacuated around 10 a.m. Tuesday, after a second bomb threat in the past eight days. Police searched the grounds and gave the all-clear about two hours later.

The Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, was closed for about two hours Tuesday morning, after receiving an emailed bomb threat overnight. The center reopened around 9 a.m. It was at least the third bomb threat at the center since Jan. 31.

The Louis S. Wolk Jewish Community Center in Brighton, New York, just south of Rochester, also was evacuated Tuesday. The building was re-opened after police determined there was no bomb.

CBS 2's Jeremy Ross has more on the impact and the disturbing trend across the country.

Hours after police and K-9 units sniffed and ruled out a threat at Thorndale and Sheridan, school could reconvene, as police offer a hand to dozens of children, parents and staff once evacuated from the Chicago Jewish day school within the Emanuel Congregation Synagogue.

The local bomb threat was apart of the latest wave of scares on just Tuesday alone. More than a dozen threats were reported in at least seven U.S. states, Washington D.C. and Toronto, Canada.

"We're very concerned for both the Jewish Community and for the general public," said Natan Pakam.

Natan Pakam of the anti-defamation league said singe the start of the year, the ADL has tracked more than 120 threats targeting Jewish institutions nationwide. None resulting in violence, but the cocern is that could change if threats continue.

Students get back to learning, as investigators try to learn who is responsible for scenes like this.

No one is in custody in connection with the latest threat.

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• Bomb Threat
• Crime
• Nancy Harty