All Fort Worth public libraries closed abruptly on Monday due to emailed bomb threats.
Police later determined the threats were illegitimate, so the libraries reopened the following day.
At 4:45 p.m., a library employee called Fort Worth police and claimed they “received an email from an unknown person who was making bomb threats to multiple libraries,” according to a statement released by the Fort Worth Police Department.
Police responded immediately and “decided to evacuate all Fort Worth libraries out of an abundance of caution.”
“Investigators learned other cities in the area received similar emails,” according to Fort Worth police, “and were able to determine that the IP address that was used to send the emails originated from outside of the United States.”
Fort Worth police said the investigation is ongoing, but there is “no evidence of ongoing threats” at this time.
“After our rapid & unexpected closures due to unfounded facility threats, we will reopen on 9/20,” the library tweeted. “We appreciate the rapid response from our [police department] and [fire department]. We have approval to reopen and are eager to see our patrons. We are grateful to serve the public tomorrow and in the future.”
Last Tuesday, several Texas high schools, including one in Fort Worth, received multiple threats that were also determined to be false, as reported in The Dallas Express.
Fort Worth ISD said possible threats to Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School were indicated on social media.
Following an investigation by Fort Worth police, a district official announced that there was “no legit threat.”
The district stated that all students and staff were safe, and there was no further threat to the school.
“Please know that the safety of all students is and will remain our number one priority,” the district said.
There were also reports of active shooters at Lincoln High School in Dallas, Waco High School in Waco, Connally High School in Pflugerville, and Heights High School in Houston, all of which were found to be unfounded.