LOS ANGELES, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Many locations in Southern California Thursday received bomb threats which is hoax and identified by the authority as a part of nationwide wave of threats.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), as bomb threats being made throughout the nation, "several of those threats have been received in the Los Angeles area" as well.
"We are working diligently to determine the source & credibility of these threats. We will provide more information as it becomes available," the LAPD said via its official Twitter account.
Riverside County Sheriff's Office (RSO) released a statement Thursday noon, saying RSO is one of several Southern California agencies "experiencing an influx of email threats."
"RSO takes these threats very seriously and is conducting an investigation into each threat. At this time no threat has been substantiated. We will provide an update when additional info is available." the statement said.
Meanwhile, police in Garden Grove, a city in Orange County located 60 kilometers southeast of Los Angeles downtown, tweeted that bomb threats by email were reported in cities across the county and all of these threats are unfounded.
"At 1114 AM today we received several calls from local businesses reporting a bomb threat by email. The threat demanded cash in #Bitcoin or they would blow up the business."
In San Bernardino County, Chino City's Police Department, said in a statement, "along with agencies nationwide are working bomb threats received via email at businesses, schools, government offices, and private residences. The email has been traced out of the country and does not appear to be credible."
The FBI's Los Angeles field office issued a statement saying it was "aware of the recent bomb threats made in cities around the country, and we remain in touch with our law enforcement partners to provide assistance. As always, we encourage the public to remain vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activities which could represent a threat to public safety."