PLYMOUTH, Ohio (UPDATED 9:57 p.m.) — Plymouth Superintendent Jim Metcalf issued an update on Plymouth-Shiloh School District following the recent threatening events.
School will resume as normal tomorrow,” Metchalf reported. “The suspect believed to be responsible for the threatening phone calls has been apprehended and is in police custody tonight.”
He urged parent to plan for students to arrive on time for school Wednesday. Students should be at school by the usual 7:45 a.m. bell time.
Plymouth police Chief Charles Doan confirmed authorities have identified a suspect(s) in threats made to students on Sunday night and were continuing questioning Tuesday afternoon.
“We are talking to a guy but he hasn’t admitted anything yet,” Doan said.
Due to looming threats within the school district, Superintendent James Metcalf closed all Plymouth schools on Tuesday morning. Originally the schools were on a two-hour delay, said Metcalf.
Tuesday Doan said phone records helped lead to identification of a person of interest.
“We have a person of interest. We spent the whole morning writing subpoenas and warrants with the Huron and Richland sheriff departments,” said Doan early Tuesday.
According to Doan, an eerie call was made to five students on Sunday evening.
Doan said the caller behind the threat said these words: “What do you and Kurt Cobain have in common? Go to school tomorrow and find out.”
The threatening call led the school’s administration to call the Plymouth Police. By mid-morning, only 30 percent of Plymouth School students remained in class.
“The school received an unverified threat, so they called us. Within 20 minutes of that original call to us, we had three officers in the locked school,” Doan said.
According to Metcalf, the schools did not issue a warning to students. Students contacted their parents to come pick them up, said Metcalf.
“We planned on having school run as usual (on Monday) because we thought we had everything under control,” said Metcalf on Tuesday.
The Plymouth Police Department posted a statement regarding the handling of Monday’s situation on its Facebook page.
The investigation is ongoing. Check back for updates throughout the day.
Monday’s incident was the latest in a series of Richland County school lockdowns, bomb threats and other events that have closed schools or disrupted classes. Madison, Mansfield Senior, St. Peter’s and Lexington have all experienced incidents earlier this month.
