# How many bomb threats are real emergencies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bomb-threats-are-real-emergencies/707619 "2014-12-18T23:13:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bomb-threats-are-real-emergencies/707619/1 "2014-12-18T23:13:52Z")
There have been several bomb threats against schools in my area this week. All of them were hoaxes. A lot of people say that whoever calls in these threats is just some loser who wants attention. A similar issue happens in pharmacy robberies. The criminal will say they have a pipe bomb. Has there ever been a threat somewhere that wasn’t a hoax? IIRC, every major terrorist attack in the USA was a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bomb-threats-are-real-emergencies/707619/2 "2014-12-18T23:59:56Z")
The question as posed in the title is different from the question as posed in the post. I don’t know the answer to the post. But this is my answer to the title: Until it has been determined to be a hoax, EVERY bomb threat is a real emergency. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bomb-threats-are-real-emergencies/707619/3 "2014-12-19T00:10:19Z")
The Cleveland Elementary School shooting in Stockton, CA in 1989 was preceded by a phone warning to the police. In 1970 someone from the radical Weather Underground phoned in a warning to the New York Police Department main headquarters. A bomb went off less than 10 minutes later. A few months later the same thing happened at a courthouse on Long Island. ISTR there were some other bombings by the radical left that were preceded by phoned warnings. And of course, the Irish Republican Army often[phoned in warnings before setting off bombs.](http://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/19/world/2-rail-terminals-in-central-london-hit-by-ira-bombs.html) ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bomb-threats-are-real-emergencies/707619/4 "2014-12-19T00:20:20Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > The question as posed in the title is different from the question as posed in the post. I don’t know the answer to the post. But this is my answer to the title: Until it has been determined to be a hoax, EVERY bomb threat is a real emergency. What I was really asking was how many are not hoaxes. I see it happen several times every year, someone starts a panic by calling in a threat at a school, and it is always (at least in my area) a hoax. Usually around the time of finals, some a-hole does this hoping to get out of a test. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bomb-threats-are-real-emergencies/707619/5 "2014-12-19T00:51:07Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > What I was really asking was how many are not hoaxes. I see it happen several times every year, someone starts a panic by calling in a threat at a school, and it is always (at least in my area) a hoax. Usually around the time of finals, some a-hole does this hoping to get out of a test. My WAG is (in the US) probably 99% or more are hoaxes. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bomb-threats-are-real-emergencies/707619/6 "2014-12-19T18:19:02Z")
[http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/local/biddeford-saco/2014/12/19/phone-threat-school-canceled--saco-thornton-academy/20628635/](http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/local/biddeford-saco/2014/12/19/phone-threat-school-canceled--saco-thornton-academy/20628635/) Second multi-day school lockdown due to a bomb hoax this week. It used to be that if there was a threat, the school would be evacuated, searched, and everyone would go back when it was found to be safe. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bomb-threats-are-real-emergencies/707619/7 "2014-12-19T20:01:27Z")
Here in northwest Arkansas we seem to have a school bomb threat almost weekly. So far all hoaxes. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bomb-threats-are-real-emergencies/707619/8 "2014-12-19T22:54:02Z")
The problem is there are [documented cases](http://www.wbtv.com/story/13341382/student-hurt-after-pen-exlpodes-at-school) of [bombs in [URL=“http://wthitv.com/2014/09/16/isp-bomb-tech-successfully-dismantles-two-homemade-bombs-each-with-50-yard-radius/”]or near](http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/11/10/5305135/device-found-at-school-was-bomb.html#.VJSpZF4A0) schools. More than [you hear about](http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26315637/aurora-middle-school-evacuated-crews-search-possible-pipe?source=infinite). So, [even if it’s a prank](http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2013/04/all_clear_given_in_bangor_afte.html) and the [bombs don’t cause any injuries](http://www.richmond.com/mechlocal/news/crimes-and-arrests/breaking-news-bottle-bombs-found-at-lee-davis-hanover-high/article_cb638556-aac7-5a7f-a555-2fbd523cb7fa.html?mode=jqm), you have to [take the threat seriously](http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/School-Evacuated-After-Suspicious-Item-Found-246337421.html), because even a[13-year old can build a working bomb.](http://rowanfreepress.com/2014/11/10/pipe-bomb-found-at-southeast-middle-school-friday-in-rowan-county-n-c-bomb-squad-called/) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bomb-threats-are-real-emergencies/707619/9 "2014-12-20T03:31:42Z")
Aside from community college dorks trying to get out of tests, bomb threats are also used for extortion, among other reasons. [Harvey’s Resort Hotel bombing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey%27s_Resort_Hotel_bombing), August 1980, was a real bomb, and a very sophisticated one, that blew up a substantial chunk of the building while bomb techs were trying to disarm it. (ETA: That Wiki page includes a link to a directory of [“Improvised explosive device bombings in the United States”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Improvised_explosive_device_bombings_in_the_United_States). I didn’t poke through it to see how many of them were given advance warning, which is what the OP is asking about.)