Cops: Bomb threat made against Hempstead High

A bomb threat has been made against Hempstead High School for Friday, Hempstead Village police said Thursday.

School officials and police plan to search the school early Friday before students arrive, village police Lt. James Hayman said. If something suspicious is found, arson and bomb squad units from the Nassau Police Department would be called in, he said.

Hayman said a school official reported the threat about 5 p.m. Thursday. Details of the threat, such as whether it was sent by phone, were not immediately available late Thursday night, police said.

The district's superintendent, Susan Johnson, could not be reached for comment late Thursday. An assistant superintendent said he did not know about the bomb threat.

Since the elementary school shooting massacre in Newtown, Conn., parents, school officials and children have been on edge across Long Island.

Several schools have endured lockdowns or been searched after threats were reported, almost all of them baseless.

Thursday, Nassau police searched every school in the Massapequa school district after an anonymous caller to Unqua Elementary School said there was a "gun in a backpack" at the school. Nothing was found, police said.

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Hayman said schools have been the target of "copycat" threats.

"We want to follow up, especially with the atmosphere," he said. "Unfortunately, there's copycatting now. Of course, you have to take everything seriously."