GARDNER, MASS. (WHDH) - Police are investigating after two “horrific” e-mails were sent to thousands of Gardner High School students in the middle of the night over the weekend.
“I go into my email and I check it, and it was a bunch of racial slurs, child pornography, it was just horrible,” said student Elijah Griffin.
Superintendent Mark Pellegrino said two e-mails, which also contained threats to a school building, were sent through a portal the school is using for online learning, and the sender clicked a box allowing them to be blasted to thousands of recipients.
“These were horrific videos and messages that went out via email to our students and families,” Pellegrino said.
Pellegrino said officers immediately swept school buildings and determined there were no credible physical threats, and that the mass email feature has been disabled as police investigate. But he said the images can still be damaging.
“Really our primary thing, once we knew the schools were safe, that they were physically safe, is the social emotional health and wellbeing of our students and families,” Pellegrino said, adding the schools have set up counseling sessions for students.
Griffin said he hopes the sender is caught and gets treatment.
“Whoever did this needs really mental and physical help,” Griffin said.
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