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Every public school student in Los Angeles told to stay home after "credible threat".

An entire public school system has been closed after a bomb threat was made to the school district of Los Angeles.

More than 666,000 students at more than 1000 schools have been told to go home or stay home after the abrupt decision was made at 7am LA time.

The “electronic threat” received early Tuesday prompted the decision, school district police Chief Steve Zipperman said.

CNN reports that District superintendent Ramon Cortines told media the “message” referred to backpacks and “other packages.” He said many schools were threatened, though none by name.

“I, as superintendent, am not going to take the chance with the life of a student,” he told reporters.

“It was not to one school, two schools or three schools,” Cortines said. “It was many schools, not specifically identified.”

The cancellation of classes was made early enough in the morning that many children had not yet left home or arrived at school.

Even so thousands of working parents were forced to find backup care for their kids.

The threats made were reportedly emailed to a member of the Los Angeles school board, and sent “from overseas”.

The scare comes admit increased security after the massacre in San Bernardo.

The superintendent said all schools will be searched thoroughly.

In New York authorities said the city had received an identical, anonymous threat but determined that it appeared to be bogus.

The threat “was so generic, so outlandish, and posed to numerous school systems simultaneously” that it was clearly not credible, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Bill Bratton, New York’s police commissioner said the threats in New York could have been made by a Homeland fan.

“In reviewing it- the instigator of the threat may be a Homeland fan, basically watching Homeland episodes. It mirrors recent episodes on Homeland” he said.

One sign that it was a hoax Commissioner Bratton said was that the author of the threat spelled ‘Allah’ with a lowercase a.

The message included “wording choices that suggest a hoax,” he added.

More to come…