A private school in Aliso Viejo will remain closed at least through Wednesday as investigators continue to probe a threatening email sent to the institution.
Officials declined to speak in detail about the nature of the threat against St. Mary’s School, but said it “created concern regarding the safety of the school.”
Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock said it was sent Monday, and investigators have been working since then to trace its origins.
“Sheriff’s investigators have obtained additional information as a result of the investigation and are in the process of verifying its accuracy,” said Hallock, who declined to elaborate.
“It continues to be of paramount importance to the integrity of the investigation that details not be released until facts can be confirmed,” he said. “There have been no additional threats received by the school or information obtained by investigators to indicate any additional safety concerns.”
As a precautionary measure, school officials closed St. Mary’s on Tuesday and have canceled classes for Wednesday, Hallock said.
Additional information regarding the school’s class schedule for the remainder of the week is expected to be released Wednesday.
St. Mary’s houses about 800 students from preschool through 8th grade, according to its website.
The ongoing investigation involves school administrators and the Sheriff’s Department’s School Mobile Assessment and Resource Team.
“The safety of our students always has been and remains our top priority,” Sharon Taylor, head of school at St. Mary’s said in a prepared statement.
The closure of St. Mary’s marks the second Orange County school in a week to shut down due to an email threat.
Police shut down Fountain Valley High School when a threat from a student’s email account was found Sept. 3, alleging that explosives were hidden in the school and the student would show up with an assault rifle to “shoot any survivors,” authorities said.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7765 sschwebke@ocregister.com Twitter; @thechalkoutline
