'This has clearly been a hoax.' Bomb threats against Hilton schools deemed not credible by police

Police determined that the anonymous threats made against Hilton Central School District last week are not believed to be credible.

"This has clearly been a hoax meant to cause panic and disruption in our school community," the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and Greece Police said in a joint news release issued Sunday evening.

Twice in the last week, Hilton Central School District locked down its schools after receiving anonymous threats that bombs were placed in sites around the district, including at schools, in protest against a book in the high school library titled "This Book is Gay." Twice, law enforcement searched the buildings and did not find any explosives.

On Wednesday, all students and staff were evacuated and schools were closed for the remainder of the day. On Friday, a threat again disrupted classes but some students were temporarily locked into their buildings and others waited buses before classes resumed around noon.

An investigation aided by federal officials determined that "a handful of other communities across the country had received somewhat similar email threats," the release read. While the threats came from overseas email addresses and were routed through international servers, "no credible threat has been identified."

Both departments said they believe it is safe to resume normal school operations.

Hilton Central School District Casey Kosiorek on Sunday said classes will resume and school will be open on Monday. The district has also implemented some additional security measures including adding an additional professional security presence outside normal school hours.

Both police departments said that if the district receives similar, non-credible threats they will provide an additional presence outside the schools, "but deem it safe to continue our normal school day," Kosiorek said.

"We are not naïve to think these emails will suddenly end, and should they continue, we will investigate them," MCSO and Greece police said. "Since these emails lack all credibility, we fully support the district’s authority to not allow these threats to disrupt the education our students deserve."

Full statement by Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Greece police on Hilton school district bomb threats

On two occasions this past week, the Hilton Central School District was the target of anonymous email threats. As you can imagine, these threats were alarming not only to the students and staff but to the community as well. In each of these incidents, the School administration, MCSO and Greece PD cooperated to be able to provide for the immediate safety of those effected as well as to be able to conduct as thorough of an investigation as possible.

The investigation has been conducted with the assistance of our federal law enforcement partners, who have been able to confirm that a handful of other communities across the country had received somewhat similar email threats. The common trait amongst these emails is the use of overseas email addresses and routing the messages through overseas servers, all to conceal their identity. In each of these independent investigations, no credible threat has been identified. We have not found any links between these emails and local individuals wishing harm on the school. This has clearly been a hoax meant to cause panic and disruption in our school community.

We are not naive to think these emails will suddenly end, and should they continue, we will investigate them. Since these emails lack all credibility, we fully support the district’s authority to not allow these threats to disrupt the education our students deserve. Should addition legitimate information come forward, we will respond accordingly and take all necessary precautions.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the Greece Police Department are continuing to support the Hilton School District with their return to normal operations. Over the weekend the district has implemented additional security measures above and beyond what is expected for this situation, all in an effort to ease concerns. We are confident that the district administration is taking all reasonable and necessary measures to ensure students and staff feel safe to return to school.

We are asking the community for your cooperation and understanding as we deal with this situation.

Full statement by Hilton Superintendent Casey Kosiorek on bomb threats

Dear Families and Guardians:

I am writing to provide everyone with an update since our community meeting on Friday evening. On Sunday, I held a meeting with the Assistant Superintendents, the Director of Safety and Security, and leadership from both the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the Greece Police Department. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office determined that Wednesday and Friday’s email threats continue to have no credibility. This was law enforcement’s position on Friday morning, as well as today. We communicated to law enforcement leaders that a contract has been secured for additional professional security presence outside normal school hours. In addition, other internal security measures have also been added today to secure our schools. Buildings will have one point of entry with our security staff to provide access until evening activities are done at each school. With the additional measures in place today, both law enforcement agencies indicated that the Hilton Central School District has exceeded their expectations for safety and security moving forward. Both agencies stated that if an identical or similar, non-credible threat came through, they would provide additional presence outside schools, but deem it safe to continue our normal school day. We will work with our law enforcement partners on any future concerns that arise.

Based on the feedback from our staff and community, a meeting was held today with all Principals to solidify plans for staff and students in case there is a need to evacuate in the future. If necessary, off-site locations have been secured for our schools by our Director of Transportation. We ask that you contact the Safe Schools Helpline immediately via the website Link to Safe Schools Helpline or by calling 1-800-418-6423 EXT. 359 if you see or hear something concerning. This service is available 24/7 for anyone in our community. We will be in session on Monday.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bomb threats against Hilton schools deemed not credible by police