MANSFIELD, Ohio (UPDATED at 5 p.m.) – Madison students and staff will return to school and activities will resume as scheduled on Thursday after a bomb threat disrupted classes Wednesday morning.
A pair of eerie calls to 911 led all Madison Local School buildings to be evacuated Wednesday and the ripple effect was felt throughout the county.
According to Richland Co. Sheriff Maj. Joe Masi, a pair of bomb threats were called in at 8:18 and 8:27 a.m.
“The first call was not specific to the schools, just Madison,” Masi 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,” Masi said.
To hear the anonymous voice messages, listen to the two files below:
Madison Superintendent Lee Kaple said he received a call from the Richland County Sheriff’s Office that it received a threat of several devices placed in different school buildings throughout the district.
“When the call came to me, I put the safety of the children first so we didn’t hesitate in putting our emergency evacuation plan into place,” Kaple said. “I think the safest place at that time was to get them out of the buildings and secure them in a neutral area.”
According to Masi and Kaple, this is the first time in recent memory an entire north central Ohio school district has been evacuated.
“The threat was so vague, I understand why (the school) did that,” Masi said.
Authorities said all buildings were cleared Wednesday afternoon.
The Richland County Fairgrounds was identified as a neutral collection point for students after coordinating with the sheriff’s office and Richland County EMA.
Parents were notified through local media, the Madison website and by subscribing to a text messaging system for their building, Kaple said.
An update posted to the Madison Local Schools website shortly before 10 a.m. 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.”
Parents were asked to bring ID to pick up their children.
Madison parent Jessica Cyrus was waiting at the bus stop on Kentucky Avenue Wednesday morning after her two children, niece and nephew were dropped off from the elementary school. She said she received a text update from the school at 9:35 a.m. informing her of the bomb threat. Another text update was sent at 10:31 a.m. stating if students weren’t picked up at their schools they would be transported to the Richland County Fairgrounds.
“I’ve heard people say well, this has happened twice to Madison but Madison is not a bad district,” Cyrus said. “I grew up in Madison, I prefer that my kids attend Madison. It’s just scary that this is probably some young punk that wants to petrify everybody but the one time they don’t take it seriously is when it’s going to happen.”
A bomb threat last week evacuated Madison Comprehensive High School, but no other buildings in the system.
Six buildings in the Madison district were evacuated this time, including the preschool, affecting approximately 3,200 students and 500 adults. Parents filed through the Richland County Fairgrounds to pick up their children.
Jolene Thompson was among those in the crowd. Her youngest child, an elementary student, was dropped off at home, she said.
“I got off work, I drove home, I waited and he was the only one who got off the school bus,” she said.
Thompson said she was notified about the incident through a text-messaging app offered through the school.
“I got a text message stating that there was a bomb threat and they were going to release the kids onto the school buses and the ones that didn’t make it home would be at the fairgrounds,” she said.
Stephanie Mullins, who has three children in Madison Schools, also uses the app. She said it was a “big help” in locating her eldest child.
“I had messaged her teacher on the ‘Remind’ app and asked her if she was still at the school or if she was at the fairgrounds, and she had called me and that’s how I found out she was out here (at the fairgrounds). That’s been a big help -that app – or I wouldn’t have even known.”
Sheriff Steve Sheldon was at the high school during the evacuation and investigation process. Deputies were located at all Madison schools. Mansfield and Ontario police departments assisted the sheriff’s office in responding to the incident.
Masi stated the sheriff’s office is working diligently to identify the caller.
“This is a little bit different than the last (bomb threat), the last one we already had the suspect in custody and for this one we don’t,” Masi said. “We’re in the investigative phase right now.”
Richland County Transit and neighboring school districts including Clear Fork, Crestview, Lucas and Mansfield helped bus students. Masi said the Red Cross and Richland County EMA also assisted at the Richland County Fairgrounds.
Masi said responding to such threats incurs a huge expense for law enforcement.
“You’re calling in an entire shift to come in early to work that shift to cover for the guys that are handling the bomb-threat call,” Masi said. “That personnel is getting paid overtime to come in, so that is a big expense.”
As a precaution, Wednesday night’s Madison at Clear Fork girls soccer game was moved to Thursday night.
In addition, the Madison branch of the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library closed due to the threat, according to Ronita Taylor, Communications Manager for the library.
Mansfield City Schools also called for a lockdown of all buildings in the district as a precautionary measure, according to the superintendent’s office. Students had inside recess, and the rest of the school day proceeded as normal.
“Earlier today Mansfield Senior High School received a telephone call that implied a threat but was not specific. Local law enforcement authorities were contacted,” said Mansfield Schools spokesman Larry Gibbs. “As a precautionary measure, due to the situation at the Madison schools, all buildings within the district secured their entrance and exterior doors but normal school activities have continued inside.
“A Leader Alert automated call was made to parents advising them of the situation. Parents who wanted to pick up their children were allowed to do so, but no one was permitted inside the schools. Children were located and taken to their parents at the main entrances.”
