Threat letter empties Socorro schools

SOCORRO, N.M. (KRQE) - All was quiet in Socorro Friday as residents waited to see if a letter threatening mass casualties proves to be true or a hoax. Though nothing has happen, the threat still left its mark.

The handwritten note sent to police on Monday listed targets included police, schools and government buildings.

Since that letter surfaced and schools were informed about it, most parents who spoke to News 13 said they would not be sending their kids to school Friday.

PDF Threaten Letter

Only 5 percent of all students in the district showed up for classes.

Bus after near-empty bus pulled up to one elementary school in the morning. One didn't have a single kid aboard.

At other schools gates were locked or manned by police.

Everyone at the high school was checked before being allowed into the parking lot.

The letter's writer promised mass casualties and said he or she would also die today.

Despite the threat, some parents chose to send their kids to school.

"We just try to not let someone wanting negative attention to change what we do," parent Nancy Hoffman said.

Another kept her kids home but not herself.

"I, as a concerned parent, am keeping my kids at home," school employee Irene Velarde said. "But I'm here to do my job, and it's for the kids' sake."

Police were not only tasked with watching over schools. A Veterans Day ceremony that wrapped up just before noon also had extra security.

Extra security was also at the New Mexico Tech campus and some professors cancelled class due to the threat.

Some buildings with sensitive material inside were closed and officers routinely searched those that were still open, racking up overtime totaling several thousand dollars.

A source close to the investigation told News 13 two people had piqued detectives interest as the letter writer, but no suspects have been named.