BELLVILLE — A Mansfield resident has been arrested after allegedly making Facebook posts about bringing a gun into a Clear Fork Schools building.
Tamara D. Sylvester-Neighbors, 29, of Mansfield, was booked into the Richland County Jail on Friday. She has a pending arraignment on a felony charge of inducing panic, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Office. Sylvester-Neighbors was arrested at her residence Friday just after 6 a.m.
“Within an hour of receiving the complaint, our office was able to identify, locate and subsequently arrest the person who made the threat,” Sheriff Steve Sheldon wrote in a news release.
“Our office worked closely with the administration of the Clear Fork Schools along with the Bellville and Butler Police Departments to ensure the safety of the students and staff of the Clear Fork Schools pending the arrest of the offender.”
Early Friday morning, an officer spoke with a Bellville resident who had called in about Sylvester-Neighbors, and was concerned for her mental health due to “off-the-wall comments on Facebook.”
The person told the RCSO that Sylvester-Neighbors had been posting every couple of minutes and likely had not slept. The caller also said Sylvester-Neighbors had just been released from the hospital for mental health treatment.
“(The caller) advised that due to a lot of the things (Sylvester-Neighbors) was talking about, she along with other parents of children at Clear Fork schools were worried she was going to arrive at the school and cause harm to staff and children,” the RSCO report stated.
The officer began to contact the Mansfield Police Department to suggest a welfare check on Sylvester-Neighbors, but was instructed to immediately go to Sylvester-Neighbors’ moments later after she made another Facebook post.
The post stated: “What the f*** is an open door policy? Me asking politely. Also, I can bring in a football to the secretary. Could easily bring a gun and shoot (secretary name redacted) in the head.”
Sylvester-Neighbors later commented on the post “Not a threat” and tagged the Bellville Police Department.
According to the sheriff’s report, the officer made contact with Sylvester-Neighbors at her home and she admitted to making the posts, but denied intent to harm anyone and claimed she was just trying to let people know how bad security was at the schools.
A letter addressed to Tamara Schaefer from Clear Fork High School principal Jennifer Klaus stated that she is banned from school property, including during extracurricular activities, effective immediately.
The letter states the ban applies to all school grounds, buildings and parking lots, all events hosted by the district and any other activities under the supervision or authority of the school or its staff.
The letter also states that any attempts to access school property without prior authorization may result in legal action, including possible involvement of law enforcement.
School officials told Richland Source that to their knowledge, Sylvester-Neighbors is not a Clear Fork graduate.
In a statement Friday, Clear Fork interim Supt. John Thomas assured parents and community members the situation has been resolved.
“The school was made aware that an individual posted remarks on social media that were threatening and harassing in nature to our students, staff and school,” Thomas wrote.
“As always, the safety and well-being of our students, staff, and school is our highest priority.”