Several primary schools closed after chilling ‘mass shooting’ email | World | News
Several schools were closed in an Irish town today after receiving a threatening email claiming there might be a “mass shooting”.
More than 10 primary schools in Carlow and across the county were closed on Wednesday after receiving the sinister email, which Gardai (Irish Police) are currently investigating but suspect at this stage to be an elaborate hoax. Irish Mirror reports.
On the advice of gardaí, all schools that received the email were closed and officers also increased patrols in the area. The Irish Mirror said the schools that have decided to close are: St Fiacc’s NS, Ballyconnell NS, Scoil Mhuire gan Smál, St Laserian’s NS, Rathvilly Primary School, Scoil Molaise in Old Leighlin, Scoil Mhuire Lourdes, Rathmore NS, Drumphea School and St Columba’s.
Speaking to local radio KCLR, local councilor Fergal Brown, principal of St Joseph’s National School, which was also closed, said: “Basically, there was an email sent from a Gmail account to a number of schools in Carlow. Now some of the emails were actually wrong. I was speaking to two headteachers recently and they were mentioned but the email addresses were wrong. It looks like a generic email floating around and God knows where it came from. It may have come from a different country.”
“This (email) just shows that there could have been a mass shooting at a school. “But I believe it was a hoax and gardaí have contacted all the schools this morning and have spoken to myself quite a bit about it.
“As a result there is an increasing garda presence in the town and this is obviously worrying but I want to reassure parents that schools are very safe places and there are a number of systems in place and we will learn from this too,” he continued.
“Hopefully we can all get home safely today, and when things calm down a little bit, we can sit down as a group of principals and see how we can respond to these threats in the future.”
Gardai confirmed they were aware of the email and had contacted multiple schools as part of the investigation.
A spokesman told the Irish Mirror: “An Garda Síochána is aware of a communication sent today, Wednesday 27 May 2026, to a number of educational institutions in Co. Carlow.
“Gardaí are currently assessing the content and credibility of this communication. Senior Garda leadership has initiated communication with affected educational institutions. No further information is available at this time.”
