4 students arrested: threats rattle schools
Fairborn locked down, Springfield on alert and attendance dips seen.
Police and school administrators across southwest Ohio spent a frenzied Thursday tracking down threats of violence amid ongoing anxiety after the mass shooting last week at a Parkland, Fla., high school.
At least four students — one from Springfield, two from Fairborn and another from New Lebanon — were arrested, police said. Schools in several other communities, including Springboro and Riverside, were forced to investigate threats.
Some districts reported lower attendance as a result of the threats, and several law enforce- ment leaders and police chiefs issued stern warnings to children of all ages to avoid posting similar messages in the future.
“The public should know there has been an arrest on this, and we are going to prosecute this person to the fullest extent of the law because of the severity of this act,” Springfield Police Chief Lee Graf said. “In this day and age and in light of things that happened at schools, they are extremely serious. It causes fear and panic throughout the community, and the consequences need to be
serious.”
A 16-year-old girl was arrested for allegedly making threats at Springfield High School, Clark County Sheriff Chief Deputy Travis Russell said Thursday afternoon. She is charged with inducing panic, a second-degree felony, and could face several years in prison if convicted.
The Facebook post was taken down soon after it was posted, authorities said, but it had already gone viral. Police said it was shared about 11,000 times by Wednesday evening.
“I will not be telling people what my name is, but I will bring a gun to school tomorrow, so be prepared to hear shoots,” the Facebook threat posted Wednesday said. “Yes, SHS is the school I want.”
The FBI and Clark County deputies located where the social media post was made. The Springfield Police Department and Clark County Sheriff ’s Office then executed a search warrant, seizing a number of electronic devices.
The student was arrested at 10 a.m. Thursday at Springfield High School, Russell said. Authorities say no further threat exists.
Springfield City Schools Superintendent Bob Hill said many high school students didn’t come to school Thursday and called attendance “light.”
“My smallest class today was like eight people. So that was really weird,” said student Trey Harper. “We didn’t do any work for any classes today except one of my classes, so it’s been a little scary.”
Other schools with names beginning with the letter “S” were subject to chaos Thursday due to the Springfield threat, which cautioned of an incident at an “SHS” school.
In Fairborn, police arrested two students from Baker Middle School in connection to social media threats. An 11-year-old female was charged with inducing panic and making terroristic threats. A 12-year-old male was charged with inducing panic and aggravated menacing.
Earlier Thursday, Fairborn police said a lockdown at the Fairborn High School was due to a social media post that indicated “students and teachers were possibly in danger.” Police originally said the lockdown was due to the vague threats, including the viral “SHS” threat.
In New Lebanon, a male sophomore student at Dixie High School is facing charges after posting statements on social media directed toward staff and students at the school, New Lebanon Police Capt. Jim Chambers said. New Lebanon Local Schools Superintendent Greg Williams said other students made administrators aware of the social media post around 9:30 a.m., shortly after the post was made.
More police officers were at Miamisburg High School on Thursday after the threat that was discovered on a bathroom wall the day before, according to Miamisburg Police Department Sgt. Will Ring. The unspecified number of officers at the school were in addition to the district’s school resource officer. Ring said no arrests have been made and the investigation continues.
“We didn’t feel there was any imminent danger, and it was not a viable threat,” Superintendent David Vail said Thursday afternoon. “Unfortunately, with social media it snowballed and induced a lot of panic.”