December 14, 2023
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Children were evacuated from the Shir Ami synagogue in Newtown Township, Bucks County on Thursday after the school there received a bomb threat, authorities said.
A bomb threat sent to a synagogue in Newtown Township led to the evacuation of the congregation's Jewish day school on Thursday afternoon, according to authorities. Police said there were reports of similar incidents at synagogues elsewhere in Pennsylvania and the U.S.
Newtown police responded to the Shir Ami synagogue on Richboro Road shortly after noon. School officials told police they received an email warning of a bomb at the synagogue.
Leaders at Shir Ami made the decision to remove the children from the building as a precaution. The kids were taken to a location off the synagogue's property and parents were notified of the situation by email.
Newtown police and Newtown Emergency Services searched the property with assistance from bomb-sniffing dogs. No explosives were found, police said.
One parent of a child at Shir Ami said the synagogue has an early learning center that goes from infant care through kindergarten, welcoming children of all faiths. The parent called Thursday's threat a "scary" situation but praised the school's response. Children were picked up from the synagogue later in the afternoon.
"All synagogues and all schools unfortunately, in this day and age, need to have a protocol when there's some kind of a threat," said the parent, who asked to remain anonymous. "I'm extremely grateful to the Shir Ami community for the thought they put into things, because everyone was safe and everything worked as it was supposed to work."
Newtown police said they are working with the FBI after similar threats were reported at other synagogues. Police did not say where else threats were sent.
"The FBI is investigating a series of bomb threats targeting synagogues in Pennsylvania and multiple other states across the country," a spokesperson for the agency's Philadelphia field office said Thursday afternoon. "The FBI takes all threats seriously, especially those motivated by hate or bias."
No explosive devices have been found in connection with any of the threats, the spokesperson said, but the FBI is continuing to work with local police departments in the affected communities.
The bomb threats come amid increased reports of antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in the region and beyond. Numerous religious facilities have been targeted with tensions running high over the Israel-Hamas war that began in October.
On Dec. 5, a Jewish after-school center was vandalized with spray paint at 20th and Sansom streets in Center City. That incident happened during the same pro-Palestine protest that stopped outside Israeli-owned falafel shop Goldie and later marched near the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, where several buildings were tagged with resistance messages. Mosques in South Philadelphia and Montgomery County also have been vandalized over the last two months, and multiple Jewish congregations in central Pennsylvania received bomb threats in October.
The parent of the child at Shir Ami said Thursday's threats are particularly worrisome because they appear to have been aimed at frightening children.
"I don't know if this is intentional or not, but whoever did this bomb threat today to synagogues on a Thursday afternoon — they're targeting children," the parent said. "Who's in a synagogue on Thursday at noon? Synagogue staff, but the only other people would be kids in daycare or kids at religious schools."
The synagogue did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Newtown police and the FBI continue to investigate Thursday's bomb threats. No arrests have been made.
