Bomb Threats Hit Schools Across Pike County Wednesday Morning; Piketon Closes for the Day

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PIKE COUNTY, Ohio — Bomb threats hit schools across Pike County on Wednesday morning, in what Scioto Valley Local School District called a county-wide threat. Piketon High School closed for the day even after law enforcement cleared its building, Western Pike students were sent outside while staff searched, and families in the county’s other districts reported the same threat reaching their schools.

Updated Wednesday, October 14. This is a developing story and will be updated as districts and law enforcement release more information.

Piketon: cleared, but closed for the day

Scioto Valley Local School District said Piketon High School received a bomb threat Wednesday morning and followed its threat protocols, evacuating the building and contacting parents through its all-call system. Law enforcement swept the building and deemed it clear.

Even so, the district closed school for the day out of an abundance of caution. Students who were on their way to school were redirected and sent home. Students who do not have a parent at home are being kept at school while staff call their emergency contacts, the district said.

Western Pike: students out, buses held

In Latham, Western Pike Local Schools sent students outside and held buses Wednesday morning after that district received a bomb threat. In a statement posted to social media, the district said staff were sweeping the building, checking classrooms, lockers, and locker rooms, and that parents will be notified once the building is cleared and students can safely return.

The rest of the county

Scioto Valley described the threat as county-wide, and families across Pike County’s other districts reported the same. Parents in the Eastern Local School District in Beaver said buses were held with students on board at another location until the all-clear. Families in Waverly also reported the threat reaching Waverly City Schools, which had already dealt with a reported threat and a two-hour delay on Tuesday.

Officials have not said how the threats were delivered, whether they came from a single source, or whether anyone has been identified. No arrests had been announced as of Wednesday morning. We will add each district’s official status here as the districts post it.

Pickaway-Ross hit again Tuesday

The Pike County threats came one day after Pickaway-Ross Career and Technology Center received another bomb threat early Tuesday morning, October 13. The school said the message was the same one it has received in previous threats this fall.

Ross County sheriff’s deputies swept the campus before students arrived, and law enforcement determined there was no threat. The building was cleared and Pickaway-Ross ran on its normal schedule Tuesday.

On Monday afternoon, Pickaway-Ross students were evacuated after a similar threat, and law enforcement cleared the building for students and staff to return. The district closed both its main campus on Crouse Chapel Road and its Adult Education campus for the day back on October 5 after threats there, a story we covered at the time: Bomb Threats Close Pickaway-Ross Campuses in Chillicothe as Families Press for Charges.

A fall full of threats

Schools across the region have dealt with repeated threats since the school year began. Pike County’s own career tech center in Waverly has received repeated threats this fall that investigators determined were hoaxes, and Waverly City Schools resumed classes last Friday after yet another threat there.

Our running timeline of the last two years of these cases is here: Two Years of School Bomb Threats in South-Central Ohio.

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