Anonymous Threat Letter Prompts Schools To Close Abruptly In Germany, Switch To Online Learning
A police presence was deployed across the city’s affected schools to reduce potential risks, DW reports.
More than 17,000 pupils were forced into online learning on Monday after several schools in Duisburg, Germany, closed due to anonymous threats.
A police presence was deployed across the city’s affected schools to reduce potential risks, DW reports.
On Friday, a comprehensive school received a letter from an unknown sender warning of criminal actions set for Monday.
A second letter, received on Sunday, repeated the threats and extended them to 13 other schools in the city.
Police in North Rhine-Westphalia confirmed the letters contained “threatening and right-wing extremist statements.”
Despite experts from Duisburg’s State Security Service saying they did not believe in the “seriousness of the announced offenses,” state officials took no chances.
“In-person classes” were suspended at all secondary and comprehensive schools and one grammar school in Duisburg. “Some of these schools would offer online classes,” officials said.
The Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung said the threat was classified as “Threat Level 2,” which covers potential violent attacks or death threats involving multiple students.
Some schools remained open, allowing parents to choose whether their children attended. Investigations continue into the author and motivation behind the threats.
