Mpls. schools to remain in 'code yellow' lockdown

Minneapolis school officials say a code yellow lockdown continues at all of the district's schools Thursday as a precautionary measure.

District officials say classroom instruction will continue, but exterior doors will be locked. Schools will pay extra attention to anyone entering the buildings.

Investigators have traced the online threats that led to the extra security measures to a computer server in Australia. A couple of schools in St. Paul were also affected. St. Paul police spokesman Paul Schnell said authorities do not believe the threats were credible.

"Investigators here have been working together on this as well been in consultation with the FBI and Interpol relative to this," Schnell said.

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Police in both Minneapolis and St. Paul learned of the electronic threats of violence Wednesday morning. There were no actual incidents and classes continued as normal.

Stan Alleyne, spokesman for the Minneapolis Public Schools, said the district is waiting for some additional information from police before lifting the lockdown.

"There is a lead that the police department is working on," Alleyne told MPR's Morning Edition. "We are hopeful they will communicate some positive messages to us today so we can go back to normal operations."

(MPR reporter Elizabeth Dunbar contributed to this report.)