On Monday, October 19, around 300 schools across Northern Ireland received bomb threat emails, leading to widespread concern among school authorities, teachers and parents. Police have described the messages as a hoax, saying initial checks found no signs of explosives on school premises.
The emails reportedly threatened to bring Sharia law to the country and claimed that explosive devices had been placed inside schools. Northern Ireland’s Education Minister Paul Givan said the message referred to threats from Islamists and ended with the words “Allah Akbar”.
BREAKING | Bomb threat to NI schools ‘not viable’ says Education Minister as some pupils evacuated. Read more: https://t.co/Vqy2LHpjeH https://t.co/CTwF2HVzkY
— Belfast Telegraph (@BelTel) October 19, 2026
Speaking at Stormont, Givan said the threats had caused serious alarm, although authorities were not treating them as a real danger at this stage. The matter was reported to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), and the Education Authority held an emergency meeting with police on Monday morning.
Police treat emails as a Hoax
A PSNI spokesperson said police were investigating the threatening emails sent to schools across Northern Ireland. Up to 300 schools had reported receiving the same message, which contained a general threat.
Police said the email had originated from outside the UK. Searches and checks carried out so far had found nothing suspicious. Based on the information gathered during the investigation, police were treating the messages as a hoax.
The Northern Ireland Education Authority also confirmed that it was in contact with the affected schools to help manage the situation.
Around 400 pupils evacuated
The threats led to precautionary action at several schools. Stephen Baine, head teacher of St Colman’s Primary School in Lambeg, said he received an email at around 8.50 am threatening that an explosive device had been placed somewhere on the school premises. The message also threatened repeated attacks across the country.
Baine said around 400 pupils were evacuated from the building after he was advised to handle the situation as a worst-case scenario. However, police and the Education Authority later told schools that the threat was being treated as a hoax.
Schools in Scotland also receive threats
Several schools in Scotland also received threatening messages, with Police Scotland treating them as hoaxes. A police source said the emails might have come from the Middle East, with speculation pointing towards Saudi Arabia. However, the origin of the messages has not been confirmed.
Glasgow City Council said it was aware of threatening messages received by 148 schools in its area and some neighbouring local authorities. Some schools were evacuated on Monday morning, but pupils later returned to their classrooms and were not kept in lockdown.
In Edinburgh, schools had not yet reopened after the October break. However, staff who had arrived for an in-service day were asked to go home. Schools in the Scottish Borders, which were also closed for an in-service day, confirmed receiving a threat.
North Lanarkshire Council said it was working closely with Police Scotland and that its schools had procedures to deal with such incidents.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton called for authorities to share information as soon as possible, stressing that schools, police and councils must act carefully while keeping staff, parents and children informed.
Hungary and Serbia also targeted
The threats appeared to extend beyond the UK. In Hungary, an email claimed that bombs had been placed in more than 70 schools. Several institutions were evacuated, but officials reported that no explosives were found.
Hungary’s Interior Minister Gabor Posfai said on Facebook that investigations had shown the threats received that morning were unfounded.
In neighbouring Serbia, state broadcaster RTS reported that more than 100 schools had also received bomb threats.
Cybersecurity expert points to AI use
Cybersecurity expert Jake Moore said the emails appeared to have been sent using an artificial intelligence (AI) agent. He explained that publicly available school email addresses and inexpensive software could be used to send threatening messages to a large number of institutions.
Moore said such an operation could create widespread fear with little effort. He suggested that the sender might be testing software and studying its impact, although the method used to send the emails has not been confirmed.
Authorities continue to treat the messages as a hoax while investigating their source and the circumstances behind the threats.
