MANSFIELD, Ohio — Despite the troubling circumstances faced by those at Madison Local Schools on Wednesday when a male caller made a bomb threat, superintendent Lee Kaple said the school evacuation process was “handled as well as we possibly could.”
Meanwhile, Richland County Sheriff’s Maj. Joe Masi said the Major Crimes Unit is investigating all leads.
“We have had some people call in and give us information. We’re checking those leads out.”
The suspect has yet to be identified.
“We have contacted the FBI. They were in contact with us yesterday, as well, and they’re going to do some work along with us on the case,” Masi said.
Kaple was notified Wednesday by the Richland County Sheriff’s Office that it received a threat of several devices placed in different school buildings throughout the district. Kaple estimated that all 3,200 students were transported home or to the Richland County Fairgrounds within about 90 minutes.
Kaple said the fairgrounds was identified as a neutral collection point for students after coordinating with the sheriff’s office and Richland County Emergency Management Agency.
An update posted to the Madison Local Schools website shortly before 10 a.m. on Wednesday stated: “All Madison buildings are being evacuated due to a district-wide bomb threat for later today. Students will board buses and be released to home.
“If no one is at home, students will be taken to the Richland County Fairgrounds for pick-up by their parents. Teachers will be with their students at the fairgrounds, along with law enforcement.”
Richland County Transit, as well as neighboring school districts, including Clear Fork, Crestview, Lucas and Mansfield provided additional transportation to help shuttle the students. Kaple said their assistance stemmed from a coordinated effort between the Richland County EMA.
Parents were notified about the incident through local media, the Madison website and by subscribing to a text messaging system for their building, Kaple said yesterday.
A couple Madison parents praised the text messaging system, saying it was helpful in staying updated with the latest information.
Just last week Madison Comprehensive High School was evacuated because of a bomb threat made by a 16-year-old girl, who has since been arrested.
Kaple said, “I don’t know if there’s any direct relation between the two or if it was a copy-cat type of thing.”
The district has an emergency operations plan on file that they reference when handling situations like the bomb threats, Kaple said.
“It’s a very extensive process when you’re evacuating 3,200 students and another 500 adults, and I just want to thank our teachers and our parents and all of our staff for the job they did in working with our kids,” Kaple said. “I also want to thank all of those neighboring districts and the Richland County Emergency Management Agency and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department for their help.”
Masi said Wednesday a pair of bomb threats were called in at 8:18 a.m. and 8:27 a.m.
“The first call was not specific to the schools, just Madison,” he said. “The second was more specific … there is a bomb in Madison schools.”
Masi said the call led law enforcement to believe the threat was credible and to take action.
“Obviously you’re not going to know whether or not the person is going to follow through or if it is actually a realistic threat, but we have to take it as a credible threat until we can prove otherwise.”
The Madison school buildings were cleared in a search Wednesday conducted by the sheriff’s office and school officials, Masi said. School was back in session Thursday.
