Authorities are trying to find the person who phoned in a bomb threat at a Jewish community center in Irvine, prompting the evacuation of about 1,000 people, and whether it's connected to a wave of threats made against Jewish centers and schools across the country.
Staff at the Merage Jewish Community Center of Orange County at 1 Federation Way began evacuating the facility, as well as Tarbut V'Torah Community Day School, which is located on the same property, at about 4:40 p.m. Monday. No one was hurt.
Orange County Sheriff's Department bomb-sniffing dogs were called in to perform a search of the location and nothing suspicious was found, Kim Mohr of the Irvine Police Department said.
"There have been reports today of threats called in to Jewish community centers and schools across the country," Mohr said. "It is unclear at this time whether the threat in Irvine is tied to any other such threat."
About 20 threats were made on Monday to Jewish institutions across the country, according to the Anti-Defamation League. About 90 bomb threats have been made since the beginning of the year, and a number of Jewish cemeteries have been vandalized.
Anyone with information about Monday's incident was asked to call Irvine police Detective Michael Moore at (949) 724-7316.
