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Threats of bombs and violence
rock TWHS
Thursday, November 1, 2007 CANDY BROOKS Threats of bombs and violence swept through Thomas Worthington High School last week, and police continue to work at the school to find the culprits who caused the mayhem. "We are going to pursue this to the fullest extent," said Worthington Police Lt. Doug Francis on Tuesday. There are no suspects in the string of bomb threats, which were followed by threats of shootings and some individual threats against students, he said. But he is confident there will be. Detectives are working full time interviewing teachers, staff, students, and parents, and there are plenty of leads, he said. "The best part is, the kids cooperate," Francis said. "The kids don't want to put up with this." Two years ago, police arrested a female student following several bomb threats. She was identified by teachers, who recognized her handwriting. She was charged. Inducing panic in a school is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Additionally, the district would expel any student involved, according to one of several letters to parents sent home by principal Jim Gaskill. The series of disruptions began with a phoned in bomb threat on Oct. 18. That day, police and staff searched the building, and students were evacuated at the time noted in the threat. On Oct. 24, written threats were found on the stalls of two second-floor boys' restrooms. One stated a bomb would go off at 2:45 p.m. the following day. Written next to one of the threats was a racial slur. Police and school officials met immediately. They decided to send home a letter to parents, search the building, and hold school as usual on Thursday. Six uniformed officers were at the school all day. They looked for unusual items and were there to help the students feel safe, Francis said. Attendance was down on Thursday, especially in the afternoon, school spokesperson Vicki Gnezda said. Before 2:45, the school was evacuated. There was no bomb. However, additional threats were written on the walls of two restrooms. One called Thursday "boom day." Some panic did occur because students were texting messages to each other and to parents about threats of a shooting. "We were chasing down rumors there would be a shooting," Francis said. On Friday, more notes were found in restrooms. They were on paper, and did threaten shootings. Those threats are thought to be the work of one or more "copy cats," Francis said. "I don't believe they were related," he said. Also, some written threats of violence were left in individual lockers. They, too, are thought to not be related, according to police. In a letter to parents on Friday, Gaskill again asked parents to let school officials or police know of information they receive that is not consistent with what they are getting from him. "I want to emphasize to you that safety is our number one priority," Gaskill wrote. "We need to take care of each other. Rumors are disruptive and unproductive; we cannot participate in spreading misinformation." |