Threat Call Prompts Search at Unioto Middle School

- Advertisement -

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Deputies are searching Unioto Middle School this morning after a threat call to the school.

Shortly before 8 a.m. Tuesday, the Ross County Sheriff’s Office was alerted by Chillicothe Police of the threat call, Sheriff George W. Lavender Jr. said in a statement.

Deputies are at the school searching the buildings and the exterior. K9 units are en route to assist with the search.

UPDATE: Students who had already arrived at school were locked inside on lockdown, while students arriving later were turned away at the entrance, according to the Scioto Valley Guardian. More than 100 parents waited outside the schools as the lockdown continued.

A caller claimed to have a fully automatic firearm and said he planned to open fire on campus, and also claimed there were pipe bombs inside the buildings, according to the Guardian.

Lavender told the Guardian he was ‘positive kids are safe’ and that he believed the incident was not credible. Even so, he said students would not be released and no one would be evacuated from the building, describing the decision to keep the school locked down as one he personally made.

Multiple K9 teams and a bomb squad were en route from Columbus, more than an hour away. The district told parents by phone the situation was similar to a series of bomb threats that affected other area districts earlier this year.

The middle school and high school are on lockdown, with law enforcement on all three campuses including the elementary school.

We are reaching out for more information and will update this story as details become available.

Note: An earlier version of this story and a post on our Facebook page said students were being kept out of the buildings. Students who had already arrived were locked inside on lockdown, while students arriving later were turned away. The story has been updated.

Send a tip or correction to info@heritageheadlines.com.

Get the morning stories.

- Advertisement -