SLEEPY EYE — Sleepy Eye Public School and St. Mary’s Catholic School opened at 10 a.m. Thursday, two hours late, due to an early morning potential bomb threat.

“It has been determined there is no credible threat to the safety of students,” read a Brown County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) news release sent Thursday.

The BCSO was contacted by the Minnesota Fusion Center, part of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, regarding a bomb threat reported by a social media platform to the FBI National Threat Operations Center (NTOC).

Upon receiving information of the potential bomb threat, the BCSO and Sleepy Eye Police began investigating the threat. They contacted Sleepy Eye schools at 5:51 a.m. Thursday, according to the release.

The case under investigation by the sheriff’s office involves a 16-year-old female, read the release.

Sleepy Eye Public School Superintendent John Cselovszki sent an email about the incident at 6:43 a.m. Thursday.

“I have been given the go ahead to share this information. The Brown County Sheriff’s Department and Sleepy Eye Police were notified by the FBI Social Media Monitoring Unit that a potential bomb threat was made against St. Mary’s Catholic School in Sleepy Eye,” read the email.

“In order to determine the seriousness of the threat, Sleepy Eye Public and parochial schools moved to a two-hour late start. At this time, police informed us we can resume normal operations at 10 a.m.” read the email.

“This proves that the threat detection systems we have in place really work,” said Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Reed.

The Minnesota Fusion Center allows participating agencies to share information about suspected criminal activity. It’s mission is to collect, evaluate, analyze and disseminate information regarding organized criminal, terrorist and all-hazards activity in Minnesota.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security supports the establishment of fusion centers in every state to coordinate information sharing between federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies, plus public safety agencies and the private sector.

The NTOC fields about 3,100 phone calls and electronic tips daily from the public. Threat intake examiners evaluate each lead to determine the best course of action.