St. Mary's School email threat sent from outside US

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. (KABC) -- St. Mary's School in Aliso Viejo remained closed for a second day Wednesday and was to stay closed Thursday following an e-mail threat received on Monday.

Authorities have now learned the email came from outside the United States, and have decided the threat does not appear credible.

"Initially it threatened that a school shooting would occur at a date and time that has already passed," said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock.

Authorities won't reveal the exact day and time of the alleged attack, but the school received the email Monday morning and chose to stay closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

"The email indicated that a person, physical description and a name was provided, would be the person that would do the shooting," said Hallock.

Authorities say the threat does not appear to be credible. So far investigators have found nothing to indicate the potential shooter is even a real person.

"They've been unable to locate or identify or even confirm that that person actually exists," said Hallock.

It's the second email threat in a week at an Orange County school. The sheriff's department bomb squad was called to Fountain Valley High School last week after an email talked about hidden explosives on campus and a mass shooting to follow. So far the sender of that email is still unidentified.

Orange County sheriff's investigators say they have found no connection between the two school threats.

St. Mary's School officials would not go on camera on Wednesday. Eyewitness News was told that the campus will remain closed on Thursday, although faculty and staff will be present to assess what happened and how to explain the incident to students. It's not clear if students will return to class on Friday or next week. The school says it is updating parents by email.