Lake Placid Middle-High School (Enterprise photo — Andy Flynn)

LAKE PLACID — A bomb threat made against the Lake Placid Middle-High School Tuesday morning was deemed not credible, according to the Lake Placid Police Department, who investigated the threat with assistance from New York State Police.

Lake Placid Central School District Superintendent Timothy Seymour, as well as superintendents at the Moriah Central School District and multiple other school districts across the state, received an anonymous email at midnight on Tuesday that claimed military-grade bombs had been planted in the schools. The anonymous emailer threatened to detonate the bombs if the schools did not pay them $100,000 in Bitcoin.

“We have planted bombs on the inside,” the email, obtained by the Enterprise Tuesday, stated. “They were assembled by a former Military bomber. They are well made, hidden in plain site (sic) and remote detonated. If we notice anybody trying to disarm the bombs we will detonate them. We will only call off the bombs if you pay us $100,000 in BTC. Reply to this message for the address. If we do not receive a reply we will assume you are not complying and detonate the bombs. This is the only way you will be able to save lives. Do not test us.”

The email was signed, “With all one’s heart, SWTHPL.”

The threat was unfounded, according to the Lake Placid Police Department, which was notified of the email at 6:20 a.m. Tuesday. The LPPD and State Police, along with a State Police K-9, swept LPCSD’s buildings and cleared the schools at approximately 9:45 a.m., according to a press release from the LPPD.

More than 50 school districts across the state received swatting threats on Tuesday, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office. Though several schools closed for the day Tuesday as state and local law enforcement swept the districts for the presence of bombs, LPCSD students are on spring break this week. The staff who were in LPCSD’s buildings on Tuesday morning were evacuated before the buildings were secured by police.

The threats come less than a week after hoax school shootings were reported in some North Country school districts this past Thursday. None of the Tri-Lakes school districts were included in last week’s threats. Seymour said the Lake Placid Police Department did a walkthrough in LPCSD’s buildings last week as a precaution, and the LPPD stationed a police officer at LPCSD campuses in case more swatting threats were made.

Swatting threats like these are false threats of violence intended to scare students, families and school staff, according to Hochul’s statement. Swatting is dangerous and can sometimes be fatal. In 2017, an innocent Kansas man was killed by police after Tyler Rai Barriss, of Los Angeles, made a false report about a fake hostage situation. Barriss was sentenced to 20 to 25 years in prison in 2019.

“I have directed the New York State Police to investigate these threats and work closely with all levels of law enforcement to identify the perpetrators, hold them accountable, and restore the sense of safety and security our children deserve,” Hochul said in a statement.

The swatting threats in the North Country come as schools across the nation are on edge following a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee last week that left three students and three faculty members dead.

Lake Placid Police Chief Chuck Dobson said he believes that more people have become aware of the law enforcement response required for school violence and violent threats against schools — especially after law enforcement bodycam footage of the Nashville shooting was released last week — which could potentially encourage “bad actors” to threaten schools.

“It’s easier nowadays to make threats of this type of violence because bad actors know what kind of response that law enforcement has to have because of it,” he said. “It’s easier to elicit that type of law enforcement response because we have to handle every threat like it’s the real thing to prevent tragedies like what just happened in Nashville.”

After Tuesday’s swatting threat, Seymour said the district will have a debrief with local law enforcement to reflect on the situation. He expects the district to internally communicate the importance of the district’s safety protocols and externally communicate with the community to reassure families that the bomb threat was false. When students return to school next week, Seymour said the district will remain vigilant about students’ safety and mental health. The threat is now under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, State Police, the New York State Intelligence Center and the LPPD, according to Dobson.

“As of now, everything is as well-handled as it could be,” Seymour said.

LPCSD has focused on security in the wake of school shootings over the last year. Seymour said LPCSD just completed some security upgrades, and as a result of the school shooting in Uvalde in 2022, the district performed an audit of its schools’ security cameras and an assessment of other ways the district could ensure students’ safety while they’re at school. As a result of the sweep, the district ordered more security cameras and six more key card access pads to be installed next to school doors to reduce the possible temptation to prop doors open.

The district also has a safety committee, which Dobson said works with the LPPD. There’s a lot of emergency planning already in place for threats and possible violence at the schools, he said.

“That’s what dictates our response and the school’s response,” Dobson said.

Dobson said his department is still waiting to hear about the results of the FBI’s and State Police’s investigation into the recent swatting threats.