WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2018) Police in the US capital of Washington are investigating a bomb threat just meters away from the White House, an officer told Sputnik on Thursday, amid reports of apparent hoaxes at schools, media outlets and businesses across the country.
"We are working on a bomb threat," the officer said when asked why police forces were closing down a block of K Street in downtown Washington, between 16th and 17th streets.
The investigation in Washington comes amid reports of bomb scares in cities across the United States.
The New York Police Department's Counterterrorism Division said it was probing a series of bomb threats that were sent electronically to various public places throughout the city.
"We are currently monitoring multiple bomb threats that have been sent electronically to various locations throughout the city," the NYPD Counterterrorism Division said via Twitter. "These threats are also being reported to other locations nationwide & are NOT considered credible at this time."
The threats appear to be designed to carry out extortion and disruption, the NYPD said in a separate Twitter post.
The messages were sent to targets across the country in an email that contained a bomb threat and asked for a bitcoin payment, the NYPD said.
Police have been conducting numerous searches at the locations that received the email, but so far no explosives have been found, the NYPD said.
Meanwhile, authorities in numerous cities and states have come forward confirming the receipt of threats and stating that at this time they are considered not credible.
Law enforcement authorities and institutions in Seattle, Oklahoma City and other locations across the country posted messages indicating that they were investigating similar bomb threats.
