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School shooting threat closes Odense school
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October 10th, 2012
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This article is more than 11 years old.
Tietgenskole in Odense received a threat early on Wednesday that it would be subject to a school shooting
A threatening letter delivered to Tietgenskolen in Odense has led to a large scale police operation.
The letter, printed from a computer, was opened at 7:46 this morning and contained an anonymous threat that there would be a school shooting.
The emergency services were called and large numbers of police descended on the school, which was then cordoned off and emptied of staff while pupils were called and told to remain at home as the police investigated.
“We take threats like these highly seriously which is why we are taking no chances but are investigating it as though it were a real threat,” a police spokesperson stated in a press release.
Most students had not yet made their way to school, and those that had were sent home.
“When we got to school at 8:10 the whole area was blocked off and we could see that something was wrong,” 18-year-old Simon Petterson, a student at the school, told Fyens Stiftidende.
Tietgenskole has 4,000 pupils and over 400 staff divided over six addresses in Odense and Nyborg.
The school’s principal, Gitte Bargholt, told Fyens Stiftidende that the school has never been subjected to an incident like this before.
“Of course I’m very shocked when we receive a letter like this,” Bargholt said. “I quickly thought about all the school shootings I have heard about.”
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