Four teenagers, including a 15-year-old from Berlin and three others from Duisburg, are under investigation for sending threatening emails that led to the closure of schools in Germany. The threats, which contained racist and far-right content, prompted school shutdowns affecting thousands of students. Investigations are ongoing to determine their involvement in other similar threats. The case comes amid the rise of far-right movements in Germany.

Police in Germany announced on Friday that they have identified four teenage suspects in connection with a series of threatening emails that led to the closure of several schools last week.

Among the suspects is a 15-year-old from Berlin, who is believed to have sent an email that prompted the cancellation of classes at the Max Planck secondary school in the western city of Duisburg on Thursday.

In addition, three other teenagers, aged between 16 and 17 and residing in Duisburg, are also under investigation, according to a statement released by Duisburg police. The exact role of these three individuals in the case remains unclear at this stage.

Authorities stated that the three Duisburg suspects were identified following a search of the Berlin suspect’s residence and phone, which provided further leads.

As reported by the German news agency dpa, investigators suspect that the Duisburg teens may have been motivated by a desire to avoid an upcoming exam at their school.

The incident on Thursday followed a wave of threatening emails containing racist language and far-right extremist content that led to the closure of 20 schools across Duisburg on Monday. These earlier threats forced nearly 18,000 students to miss in-person classes.

Police are currently investigating whether the four teenagers were also involved in sending those earlier emails over the weekend.

“Investigations into the extent to which the suspects are connected to the other threatening letters are ongoing,” the police statement said.

Herbert Reul, the Interior Minister of North-Rhine Westphalia—where Duisburg is located—commended the police for their rapid and thorough response.

“The police have pulled out all the stops in no time at all and used all the technical means at their disposal to determine the backgrounds of the suspects of the Duisburg threatening emails,” Reul stated.

He emphasized the seriousness of the situation, noting, “Such threatening emails are not a trivial matter.”

These school closures occur amid a growing presence of the far-right movement in Germany. In recent federal elections, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party secured the highest number of votes for a far-right group since World War II and now serves as the largest opposition party in the Bundestag.