Threats to New Miami, Edgewood schools again lead to lockdowns

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

In the past month, Edgewood and New Miami school districts have had students and staff on lockdown multiple times or have closed schools entirely because of threats of violence.

Today’s lockdown for both schools began at 10 a.m. Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones reports that a secretary at New Miami received emails stating that someone would be coming to the schools to start shooting at 11 a.m.

All were put on Level 3 lockdowns as a result.

“Deputies and detectives remained on scene at the schools while students finished out the school day,” the Butler County Sheriff’s office said in a news release.

An investigation into the emails is ongoing.

“Citing violence against our schools will end with jail time,” Jones said in the release.

On Jan. 18, Edgewood High School and Edgewood Middle School were locked down briefly following an investigation into a social media threat. The two schools, located in St. Clair Twp., were cleared of the lock-down status by 10:40 a.m.

On Jan. 13, Edgewood City Schools were closed because of a social media threat, according to the Butler County Sheriff’s office and a notice posted on the district’s website.

A post of an image showing a young man holding a gun surfaced on social media saying he was “going out with a bang don’t go to school tmr.” It made reference to “EHS”.

Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said the post appeared to be and edited version of one circulated multiple time in multiple locations.

That same day, New Miami dismissed early due to a threat. Unlike the threat at Edgewood, the one at New Miami did not match the recirculated social media threat.

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