TULSA, Okla. — In the past week, someone has emailed bomb threats to 2 News Oklahoma and other media across the state on a daily basis.
Since the first one was sent out last week, the threats are escalating - threatening schools, superintendents, teachers, and even area stores.
Here, we go in-depth to find what authorities are doing about the problem and share how 2 News Oklahoma decides when to alert our audience.
The first email to 2 News Oklahoma came in Tuesday, August 22, threatening Ellen Ochoa Elementary and a teacher who works there.
Union Public School administrators told parents to keep kids at home for several hours while Tulsa Police converged on the school to search for threats. After an extensive search of the campus, they found nothing.
"Obviously someone is wanting to cause panic and fear in our community," said Lt. Jacob Thompson, Tulsa Police Bomb Squad Commander.
In command of the Tulsa Police Bomb Squad since 2007, Lt. Jacob Thompson deploys explosive detection K-9 handlers and hazardous device technicians when any threats come in.
"What we want to encourage people is, when you get that threat, call us. Call law enforcement," Lt. Thompson added.
He told 2 News the department's investigation will determine the credibility of the threat, and any danger, and alert everyone immediately.
"We will reach out to the media if we think the public needs to be notified about a certain threat if it is credible," Lt. Thompson said. "Unfortunately, by using social media and even some mainstream media, it just seems to push a lot of fear and panic and could be unnecessary."
The risk of causing undue panic, or sparking copycats, is the reason 2 News Oklahoma, with advice by TPD, chose not to share all of the threats.
KJRH Vice President and General Manager Amy Calvert released this statement:
"2News Oklahoma will report about the threats on our newscasts when they are deemed credible and/or disruptive. We use our best judgment every day and try to report the most essential and relevant news for our audience. We generally do not report on school threats. Extenuating circumstances include when the police believe there is a public danger, school is disrupted or access to children is impacted."
Currently, a team of law enforcement officers are focusing on the recent rash of email threats.
"Right now with this current situation, we are working with our federal partners, state and local. We're combining all of our efforts so we can ascertain who is the suspect behind this," Lt. Thompson said.
When asked if he is confident they will find the suspect, Thompson said, "We are very confident. With all of the resources we have we will be able to track down who is doing this and hopefully bring them to justice."
At 2 News Oklahoma, journalists, photographers, editorial and digital staff join managers in daily discussions about credible coverage. If the issue or event concerns your health and safety, we will be the first to report the news impacting our community.
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