Five schools in New York City have received envelopes through the mail containing a "white powdery substance," according to police.
The five schools across Manhattan were sent these packages through the U.S. Postal Service, and received them over the course of about a week from March 10th through Friday, according to police. Each incident involved a plain white envelope with the address of the school handwritten in block letters, the NYPD said.
According to police sources, these were the schools that had the packages sent to them:
- March 10: Sen. Robert F. Wagner Middle School (Upper East Side)
- March 11: Montclare Children's School (Upper West Side)
- March 16 and 19: River Park Nursery School (Upper West Side)
- March 18: Success Academy High School of the Liberal Arts (midtown)
- March 18: NY Kids Club and New York Preschool (Upper West Side)
One school, the River Park Nursery School on the corner of West 94th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, had two scares just three days apart, receiving separate envelopes in the mail. Police said more envelopes could still be delivered in coming days as well.
It was not immediately clear why these schools may have been targeted, but police screened the contents of each envelope and found each to be non-hazardous.
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Police believe the sender's motive was to "cause disruption and alarm."
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Anyone with information regarding the incidents is asked to contact the NYC Terrorism Hot-Line at 888-NYC-SAFE. Anyone who receives a suspicious package should call 911.