New Jersey schools receive threats

NEW JERSEY (FOX5NY) - Several New Jersey schools were dealing with bomb threats and threats of mass shootings on Tuesday.

All of the schools are in Bergen County. Some of the schools reported receiving the threat via voicemail. The Bergen County sheriff says nearly all of the threats came in the form of automated voicemails left overnight, although some schools received additional calls in the morning and some received threats of a mass shooting. The calls were all traced to a recycled, computer-generated number in Bakersfield, California. And while none of the threats were substantiated, they posed major inconveniences and safety risks nonetheless.

Police in Clifton said a message left at the high school overnight indicated a indicated a non-specific threat to the school district involving the placement of a bomb in one of the schools, as well as a secondary threat of a "mass shooting" - both of which the caller indicated would take place sometime today

The Clifton Police Department issued a statement saying:  "It has been confirmed that the threats received by the Clifton school district this morning have also been received by numerous school districts in the area. There continues to be no credibility to these threats at this time, however, precautions are still being taken throughout the district in response to the situation."

Schools remained in session but there was a police presence, including plain clothes detectives and K-9 units at various schools as a precautionary measure.

The Leonia School District was another district that received a threat and Bergenfield High School was locked down for a period of time.  It was lifted and the normal schedule resumed.

Other schools that reported threats included Fair Lawn High School, Garfield High School, Hackensack High School, Teaneck High School and Leonia High School.

Students at some of the schools were evacuated into the very cold temperatures during the police investigation.  Parents were seen lining up at Teaneck High School to pick up their children after the threats.