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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Politics
Sarah Harvard

Sandy Hook Elementary School evacuated over bomb threats

A gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary on 14 December 2012 and killed 20 children and 6 adults ( Don Emmert/Getty )

Sandy Hook Elementary School evacuated its building after receiving a bomb threat on the six anniversary of one of the worst mass shootings in US history.

The police found the threat to be not credible. Erring on the side of caution, the Connecticut school dismissed its students for the remainder of the day.

The Newton Action Alliance and local police reported an unspecified threat.

The threat was made at 9am on Friday,. The police said the threat is not related to the emailed bomb threats sent nationwide on Thursday.

Those threats, sent as a scam email, were deemed to be hoaxes by the authorities.

Please stand with our community as we attempt to survive another tragic anniversary,” Newtown Action, an all-volunteer grassroots organisation started in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre, said in a Facebook post.

In December 2012, a gunman walked into Sandy Hook’s former building and opened fire.

The tragic incident resulted in the deaths of 20 students—aged between six to seven-years-old—and six staff.

The elementary school has often been a frequent target for right-wing conspiracy theorists and gun rights activists. 

Alex Jones, the conservative provocateur behind InfoWars, a media outlet discredited for giving space to conspiracy theories, has repeatedly tried to claim the Sandy Hook shooting was a "false flag" attack staged by the government. 

Mr Jones faces a number of defamation lawsuits over the claims from families of those killed in the shooting.

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