Another wave of bomb threats to JCCs prompts evacuations across the United States on Wednesday

By MAX SPARBER / Community News Editor

A second wave of bomb threats called in to Jewish community centers in 17 states, on Wednesday, included one to the Sabes JCC in St. Louis Park.

This follows 16 bomb threats called in to JCCs on Jan. 9. And again, all of the threats were false.

St. Louis Park Police Department blocks road to Sabes JCC on Wednesday, after a bomb threat was called in. (Photo: Mordecai Specktor)

The bomb threat to the Sabes JCC, at 4330 S. Cedar Lake Road, was called in around 10 a.m.

“The building was evacuated and children are being reunited with their parents,” said Jacqueline A. Larson, communications and marketing manager for the City of St. Louis Park, in a statement emailed to the AJW. “The police department contacted federal authorities and was informed that similar threats occurred around the country in the last few hours at Jewish institutions. The investigation is ongoing.”

Among those evacuated was 8th grader Raina Kronfeld, a student at the Heilicher Minneapolis Jewish Day School (HMJDS) and daughter of Rich Kronfeld and Robin Doroshow.

In an interview with American Jewish World, Doroshow said she learned about the threat from a friend who also has children in HMJDS. The friend asked if Doroshow could pick up her children.

A private message board for parents of HMJDS students was quickly abuzz with talk of the bomb threat, according to Doroshow. Five minutes later, she received an email from the school stating that the children were in a nearby building and would be released to parents and guardians.

“The scene was a little chaotic,” Doroshow said, describing a scene in which teachers in the school worked out the best way to release the children into their parents’ care. Eventually, they had parents sit in cars and brought their children to them.

“We were in the middle of math class. We were told it was a fire drill. We didn’t know we were going to evacuate,” Raina Kronfeld told the AJW.

She and the other students left the building to a preset meeting place outside of the Barry Family Campus.

“Some of the teachers were nervous,” Raina commented. “It was obvious it wasn’t a fire drill, because there were no alarms.”

Outside the building, Raina saw much younger children from the JCC’s Early Childhood Center, some of whom had been swimming. These children were shoeless, in their swim suits, and still wet. “Some of the eight graders gave them their jackets,” Raina said. She described 8th graders carrying children through the snow as they walked to the nearby empty building.

The spate of bomb threats was more extensive on Wednesday, compared to the threats called in on Jan. 9.

“A wave of bomb threats this morning caused 28 Jewish community centers in 17 states to quickly engage in security protocols to ensure the safety of their participants and facilities,” according to a statement from the JCC Association of North America. JTA put the number of JCCs receiving bomb threats at 32.

Steve Hunegs, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC), said, in a statement sent to the newspaper: “Leadership at the Sabes JCC and Barry Family Campus showed tremendous poise in responding to this incident…. The JCRC is working in close cooperation with law enforcement and appreciates their quick response to this incident.”

Jeffrey Van Nest, media coordinator for the FBI’s Minneapolis field office, told the American Jewish World that it is premature to comment on whether there is any connection between the bomb threats today and previous week’s threats.

The FBI is continuing to coordinate with local officials on these cases, according to Van Nest, who added, “I can tell you that we are not aware of any continuing threat to the public.”

(An updated version of this story appears in American Jewish World, 1.27.17)