All clear at Chicago Jewish Day School after bomb threat

SUN-TIMES MEDIA WIRE - Things are back to normal at the Chicago Jewish Day School in the North Side Edgewater neighborhood after a bomb threat Tuesday morning led to an evacuation and police search that turned up nothing.

A male called the school at 5959 N. Sheridan Rd. about 9:10 a.m. and said there was a bomb inside, according to Chicago Police. School staff made the decision to evacuate.

Several Chicago Police officers and K-9 units responded, searched the school, and deemed the area clear and safe by 10:50 a.m., police said. Students were then let back inside.

Sheridan was closed between Hollywood and Granville for the investigation, according to police. The CTA No. 36 Broadway and No. 151 Sheridan buses were temporarily rerouted in the area.

““Following a bomb threat that was received this morning by the Jewish Day school located in our building, we are first and foremost thankful that all of the students, staff and everyone who was in the building at the time were evacuated safely and no one was harmed as a result of this threat,” Senior Rabbi Craig Marantz of the Emanuel Congregation said in an emailed statement.

Marantz said the congregation will continue to cooperate with local and federal law enforcement investigations into the threat.

“We are, of course concerned about the antisemitism behind today’s threat, which coincides with a recent surge in bomb threats around the country. Emanuel Congregation is a community that embraces diversity and religious freedom and we remain vigilant in our stance against this or any type of hate-motivated violence,” Marantz said.