Western Pennsylvania school districts receive email swatting threats

Several Western Pennsylvania school districts were the target of swatting emails this week, authorities said.

They included Mt. Lebanon, North Allegheny, Pine-Richland and South Park in Allegheny County and Belle Vernon and Derry Area in Westmoreland County.

The school districts reported receiving threatening messages via email on Tuesday and Wednesday.

North Allegheny received a widely distributed threatening email that went to spam accounts on the afternoon of Sept. 19, according to an email from Dan Stack, manager of safety and security for the district.

Mt. Lebanon, Pine-Richland and South Park school districts reported the similar email threats.

“The message received by the district is very similar to recent communication received by schools across Pennsylvania believed to be part of a hoax known as swatting,” said Stack in an email to families.

These threats, typically received via phone or email, make or report a false threat that prompts an emergency response.

Swatting incidents occurred locally and across the state in March when districts received messages of a pending threat.

Two Mt. Lebanon staff members received an email saying a bomb was at district schools, though it did not specifically name the schools, according to an email to families from district superintendent Melissa Friez.

The email included email addresses from other school districts in other states. Fritz said the district confirmed the same message was received by several neighboring school districts.

Quaker Valley notified families of the “mass email threat,” noting it did not name Quaker Valley specifically, according to a district statement online by superintendent Tammy A. Andreyko.

South Park School District also received a bomb threat via email, which was unsubstantiated, according to a statement to families of the district.

Northern Regional Chief of Police John Sicilia said that Pine-Richland School District also received a vague email threat. The district sent an email notifying families on the incident, according to Erin Hasinger, communications director at PRSD.

Each of the above districts worked with their respective local law enforcement to investigate the threats and deemed none to be credible.

McCandless Chief of Police Ryan Hawk said the department was already aware of the hoax threat prior to the Sept. 19 email at North Allegheny as it was happening elsewhere.

“McCandless Police were involved immediately after the threat was received, and had prior knowledge of these threats occurring in numerous school districts throughout the country in the previous two days,” Hawk said.

He said the FBI is investigating because the threats occurred across the country within the short time period.

Westmoreland County school districts also received swatting emails on Sept. 20.

ADVISORY: Troopers Investigating Bomb Threat Emailed to Schools in Westmoreland County pic.twitter.com/I804eOfTZ8

— Troopers Steve Limani & Cliff Greenfield (@PSPTroopAPIO) September 20, 2023

Bell Vernon Area School District emailed parents: “This morning, an email was received which indicated that a bomb had been placed in most schools in Westmoreland County. After conferring with local law enforcement, the buildings and campuses were searched and nothing was found by local police departments and district staff. The police department is now investigating the threat. However, there will be an increased police presence in and around the school.”

Allegheny Intermediate Unit Safety and Security provides public schools with a variety of timely school safety information and workshops. It also serves as the liaison between the Allegheny County Office of Emergency Services and the schools, according to Aaron Skrbin, director of safety and security at the AIU.

Skrbin said on Sept. 20 he was aware of at least 20 schools that received the threat the day prior.

“Our role is to be proactive about these things and provide schools with accurate and updated information,” Skrbin said. “This, unfortunately, is not a new phenomenon. Swatting has been going on for the last couple of years.”

The AIU takes advantage of training from the US Secret Service and FBI on how to handle these situations and shares them with school districts, he said.

With that training, he said when the AIU and schools encounter these threats they can be fairly certain when it’s a hoax, but “you can never say never,” he said.

This also doesn’t mean they let their guard down, according to Stack.

“We take every threat seriously, whether in person, over the phone, in writing, or on social media,” Stack said.