Multiple police agencies in Medina County are trying to figure out who's behind about a dozen bomb threat calls made to schools and local businesses.
The threats started over the weekend and continued this morning, causing leaders at Highland High School to send students home for the day.
Multiple police officers and bomb-detection K9s converged on the school after a bomb threat was called into the school Monday morning.
The building was evacuated, with students first sent to the stadium before they were sent home for the day.
"We're grateful that we have plans in place and emergency plans where we're able to activate them, and to again, safely evacuate children out of the building," said Highland Schools Spokesperson Kelli Crawford-Smith.
The high school was searched, and nothing suspicious was found. Classes will be back in session on Tuesday.
It was just the latest in a string of about a dozen bomb threats made to Medina County schools and businesses since last Friday, including Medina High School, the Medina County Career Center, Medina Christian Academy, Cleveland Clinic Medina Hospital, Home Depot and Walmart. The threats prompted several local businesses to close.
"On some occasions, the voice has been altered; other occasions, it's a young male that we can decipher," said Medina Police Chief Ed Kinney.
Kinney calls this "swatting," the action of bringing a large number of law enforcement officers to locations through prank calls. Kinney said the crimes go beyond wasting valuable resources.
"It's a significant event because it creates an atmosphere of panic in the schools or whatever businesses they're targeting," Kinney said.
Kinney believes the caller uses computer-generated spoofed phone numbers with Iowa area codes, making the calls challenging to trace. Still, if the person or people can be tracked down, they could face federal charges.
"Our detective bureau is working on it. Hopefully, we'll be able to successfully trace the call back to the originator and file the appropriate charges," Kinney said.
Multiple police departments continue investigating the bomb threats, including Hinckley Police, Medina Police, the Medina County Sheriff's Office, the FBI and the Secret Service.
