New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Update: Salisbury schools did not receive a bomb threat today.
The Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, along with explosive ordinance technicians from other law enforcement agencies, have responded or are currently responding to multiple bomb threats at schools throughout the state today. Some schools have already been cleared. The State Police Bomb Squad and bomb technicians from other police agencies also responded to multiple school bomb threats on Friday. Nothing hazardous was found at any of those schools.
Some of the bomb threats were made by phone. Of those, some were made through automated calls. The specific language of the threats is not being released at this time.
State Police attached to the Commonwealth Fusion Center are assisting the FBI with a coordinated investigation into the source or sources of the threats. The Fusion Center is also compiling information about the threats to share with local law enforcement agencies and fire departments across the state and other Fusion Centers in the United States.
A list of communities with confirmed bomb threats to schools thus far today are: Groton, Weymouth, Taunton, Arlington, Plymouth, Waltham, Ayer, Tewksbury, Newton, Billerica, Swampsott, Boston, Kingston and Westford (Nashoba Valley Tech). Communities with threats to schools confirmed on Friday were Falmouth, Bourne, Mashpee, Plymouth, Weymouth, Arlington, and Boston (Boston College High School).
State Police and the Fire Marshal’s Office remind that the crime of making a bomb threat carries a significant punishment. Massachusetts General Law C. 269 S. 14 (c) calls for a punishment of imprisonment in the House of Correction for not more than 2 ½ years or imprisonment in the State Prison for not more than 20 years, or a fine of not more than $50,000, or by both fine and imprisonment.
