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Police Investigate 'Mass Casualty' Email Threat, Canceling Classes At Santa Cruz High School

SANTA CRUZ (CBS SF) -- Santa Cruz police are investigating an email received Tuesday night mentioning an intention to create "a mass casualty situation" at Santa Cruz High School, which was closed Wednesday in response, a police spokesman said.

Police worked throughout the night using sophisticated software to access and analyze the threat, but were not able to invalidate it or find out where the email came from, police Deputy Chief Steve Clark said.

At 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, Santa Cruz High School's principal received the email, containing threats that specified the time, place and method of an attack, Clark said.

The message "indicated an intention to create a mass casualty situation with students and staff at the campus," Clark said in a statement.

The school is located at 415 Walnut Ave. in Santa Cruz.

No one was named as a target in the email and to protect the investigation, police are not releasing the specific wording of the email, according to Clark.

Police detectives are working to decode the encryption used to send the email and identify the sender with the assistance of federal law enforcement, he said.

The threat is isolated to Santa Cruz High School and no other area school campuses have been targeted. However, the Police Department has assigned additional officers to patrol Santa Cruz-area schools throughout the day as the investigation continues, Clark said.

Santa Cruz City Schools, which oversees the high school, announced Wednesday morning that the school's campus would be closed for the day.

 

© Copyright 2014 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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