RIDGEFIELD — A local synagogue was among the multiple Connecticut houses of worship that received a bomb threat Friday amid ongoing violence in the Middle East, according to police.

The target was identified by Ridgefield police as Congregation Shir Shalom, a Reform Jewish synagogue. Police took a call around 10:30 a.m. Friday reporting a bomb threat at the synagogue, Capt. Jeff Raines, a spokesperson for the Ridgefield Police Department, said.

In a phone interview, Raines clarified Friday's threat was made directly to Congregation Shir Shalom, not routed through the Ridgefield Police Department. He could not elaborate on the threat but said it was a synagogue official who alerted authorities.

Several recent blog posts shared by the synagogue address the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, including "How You Can Support Israel During This Time of Great Tragedy and Mourning" and "How to Talk to Your Children about Israel and Terrorism: A Toolbox." Since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, at least 2,800 people on both sides have been killed, according to The Associated Press. The wire service reported that the morgue in Gaza's biggest hospital was overflowing Thursday as body after body was delivered.

While Raines was reluctant to speculate about a motive, he said he noticed the making of the threat seemed to coincide with the publication on social media of a department-issued statement about the Israel-Hamas war.

Like many other local police agencies, "our department put out a PSA (this morning), just with everything going on in the Middle East, but at that point with the global events there were no credible threats to Ridgefield or any (area) community," Raines said. "And then within a few hours we had multiple threats. One minute we're all putting out PSAs, and the next minute everything changes."

Police responded to Congregation Shir Shalom to evacuate the synagogue, Raines said. Once everyone was out, Raines said, officers and a Stamford Police Department K9 team specializing in bomb detection searched the premises for suspicious devices. None were found.

Ridgefield police have been informed that multiple other religious sites across Connecticut were similarly threatened, Raines said, though he declined to provide the names of other targeted towns or houses of worship, or say whether they entirely or primarily consisted of synagogues.

"There are certain agencies that we call immediately for bomb detection dogs. ... When we called, they already had a list (of towns in need) going," Raines said.

Later Thursday, West Hartford was revealed to be one of those towns. Shortly after 9:30 a.m. Friday, a staff member at Congregation Beth Israel, a Reform Jewish synagogue, reported receiving an anonymously emailed bomb threat, Capt. Daniel Moffo, a spokesman for the West Hartford Police Department, said. The email, the staffer recounted, did not specifically name Congregation Beth Israel, Moffo said.

When asked about the content of the threat, Moffo said, "Since this is an active and ongoing investigation, I'm unable to provide information other than what has been released at this time."

Investigators conducted a search of the building but did not find any explosives, according to Moffo. He said the security director for the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford was notified.

State police confirmed around 4:45 p.m. Friday that personnel had "responded to investigate, or provided assistance to other law enforcement agencies investigating, multiple threats made to synagogues and other locations throughout the state." Besides synagogues, those locations included airports, according to the federal Transportation Security Administration.

State police said they could not provide the approximate number of reported threats or the affected regions of the state. "As of the time of this writing, none of the threats that CSP personnel have responded to have been found to be credible," state police said. "CSP personnel are responding as requested to determine if threats reported are credible or non-credible. However, the FBI will be conducting any resulting investigations."

The FBI said Thursday the agency was monitoring social media threats toward Connecticut residents or religious communities as the conflict abroad inflamed longstanding tensions. Two days ago, on Wednesday evening, Congregation Shir Shalom held a prayer service for Israel that was attended by hundreds of Ridgefield residents.

"Today is an opportunity to acknowledge our feelings in response to the destruction," Rabbi David Reiner said at the service. "We cannot allow terrorism to succeed. ... The story that we should be reading is how hundreds of people in Ridgefield came together in solidarity to show support for Israel and to say terrorism is not an acceptable way to bring about change."

"When we see a Jewish person attacked anywhere, it hits close to home," Reiner later said.

"With everything that started up in the Middle East," he said, "we've been on high alert."