Hilton schools continue after another non-credible bomb threat

HILTON, N.Y. — Hilton schools will continue as scheduled on Thursday after another getting another non-credible bomb threat, at least the fourth since mid-March.

News10NBC received the bomb threat just before 5:50 a.m. In a message that went to families, the school district says the threat is part of an ongoing hoax that the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.

The first three bomb threats, all similar in contents and from a Russian email domain, were also determined to be not credible. The most recent threat claims the senders have “experience making bombs in Yugoslavia”, which dissolved in 1992.

Here is the message on Thursday from the Hilton Central School District:

“Today, the media received a non-credible threat to our schools. This is similar to the threats we received during last month. The media reported the incident to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and they informed the district this morning at 6:35 am. This incident has been deemed part of the ongoing hoax. The safety plans and additional security measures we put in place in conjunction with law enforcement have resulted in us being able to safely continue with the regularly scheduled school day.”

The first threat, which was sent on Wednesday, March 22 to local news stations, claimed that pipe bombs were placed in all Hilton schools, the district office, and the superintendent’s house. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office searched the buildings but found no bombs.

The second threat came the next Friday. Deputies once again searched the buildings with dogs as a precaution. The email containing the threat said “we will continue to bomb your school” even though no bombs were found on Wednesday.

The third threat came the next week, on Monday, March 27. Parents were notified by a robocall and the sheriff’s office says they’re continuing to investigate the hoaxes.

Hilton Superintendant Casey Kosiorek said the bomb threats could be an attempt to create division in the community. The first threat mentions the book titled This Book is Gay as the motive, which some parents want to ban from the Hilton school libraries.

The threats come from various email addresses from a “mail.ru” domain. According to software company LiveAgent, “mail.ru” is one of the largest email providers in Russia and is managed by a Russian company.