Lakota elementary evacuated Friday after caller made threats

School threats across state attract Homeland Security attention.

The number of threats received by school districts around the state prompted Ohio Homeland Security to notify the state’s Department of Education on Friday, according to a spokesperson.

Kim Norris, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Education, said Homeland Security reached out on Friday to let the state know of the districts that were threatened.

That prompted the ODE to contact all of the state’s school districts. Multiple school districts received threats on Friday, both in the area and around the state.

“Schools should continue with their established safety plans, working with local law enforcement,” Norris said. “Parents and students should always be alert and report anything that may seem unusual to law enforcement and the school district.”

An anonymous call to Endeavor Elementary in the Lakota Local School District prompted an evacuation of the school’s more than 900 students Friday.

The call came into the school at 4400 Smith Road at 11:23 a.m. with the caller making mention of “wanting to blow the school up,” but not referencing any specific device being located in the school, according to Officer Michelle Berling, spokeswoman for West Chester Police Department.

Police cleared the building, which houses grades two through six and, as a precaution, called in Miami University Police Department’s canine unit to search the building.

The bomb-sniffing police canines cleared the building by 1:47 p.m., according to Barb Wilson, West Chester Twp. spokeswoman.

“Every one of these is taken serious whether it’s found out to be real or not,” Berling said. “They’re all responded to as if they were a true threat. We take all precautions to keep the community safe.”

West Chester police are investigating the possibility of the caller’s voice being electronically altered to disguise their identity, Berling said.

Lakota transported the Endeavor students via buses to Lakota West Freshman School, then started notifying parents around 12:45 p.m. via an automated call that they could pick their children up from Lakota West Freshman Campus before 3 p.m., according to Lauren Boettcher, spokeswoman for the district.

Boettcher said Endeavor staff carried out normal safety procedures for responding to those type of situations following the call.

“At that point it was all about keeping the kids safe and secure and making sure they were with an adult at all times,” she said.

Tonya Bishop said she received Lakota’s automated call around 1 p.m. while at work in Fairfield.

“It’s a great thing that they did, that they actually brought kids here to safety and not just leave them there (at Endeavor) with a bomb threat at the school,” Bishop said, walking second-grade son Brandon out of the Lakota West Freshman School. “Thank goodness there was nothing there.”

Bishop said she’s glad Lakota first evacuated the school and sought to address safety concerns first before reaching out to parents.

“At that point in time when the kids are safe, call me and let me know where my child is and that my child is taken care of,” she said. “I’d really rather them do that than worry about calling the parents and not worry about the safety of the kids.”

Asmaa Elayyadi, who walked out of Lakota West Freshman School with her second-, fourth- and fifth-grade children, said she knew her children were safe but wanted to get to the school as quickly as she could.

“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” she said.

Superintendent Karen Mantia, who was outside Endeavor Elementary during the evacuation and investigation and inside West Freshman School for student dismissal, said township police and fire departments responded to the district’s call “with an immense amount of professionalism, urgency and precision.”

“They were on site within minutes of the emergency call and worked alongside our staff to do what was in the best interest of our students and staff,” she told the Journal-News.

Lakota wasn’t the only school district in the region dealing with a bomb threat Friday.

Threats came into Meadowdale High School in Dayton and Bell Creek Intermediate School in Bellbrook just after 11 a.m., prompting the buildings to be evacuated.

Statewide on Friday, Liberty-Benton elementary and middle school, North Royalton High School, Furry Elementary School and Licking Heights High School all received threats and were evacuated, according to multiple media outlets.

On Thursday, Beavercreek High School was evacuated because of a threat, but police did not specify the nature of the threat. The threat prompted the cancellation of all practices and games — home and away — for the day.

Staff Writer Steven Matthews contributed to this report.

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