Nationwide email bomb threat prompts wide-reaching evacuations and police responses

A bomb threat email sent far and wide, threatening massive destruction unless the sender was paid in bitcoin, has prompted building evacuations across the country, even as several authorities declared it is likely a hoax.

San Francisco police were among the agencies responding to several threats received via email around 10 a.m. Thursday, often containing identical language about an explosive device in the recipients' building, and demanding $20,000 in the cryptocurrency by the end of the day.

Hundreds and as many as thousands of similar threats have been reported at schools and businesses, news reports and social media.

That included a Keller Street business in downtown Petaluma that reported receiving an emailed bomb threat to the Petaluma Police Department at about 11 a.m. Petaluma officers said there was no evidence indicating the threat was credible.

Multiple schools and businesses in Santa Rosa were also a target of the email extortion scheme, the Santa Rosa Police Department said.

UCSF Laurel Heights, a WeWork location in Oakland, and the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco are just some of the locations receiving police attention related to the threat, which multiple authorities determined originated outside the United States.

The New York City Police Department was among the large law-enforcement agencies in the country to doubt the viability of the threat, which appears to have been designed to cause exactly the nationwide disruption experienced Thursday.

The FBI San Francisco division also said that the threats do not appear credible, issuing a statement reading, “We are aware of the recent bomb threats made in cities around the country, and we remain in touch with our law enforcement partners to provide assistance. As always, we encourage the public to remain vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activities which could represent a threat to public safety.”