PARMA, Ohio — A Pennsylvania man was indicted in federal court on Friday after he allegedly made a threat to shoot students at Parma High School in 2018, according to the U.S Attorney’s Office.
Russell Miley-Cruz, 21, of Scranton, Pennsylvania was arrested and formally charged with one count of transmission of an interstate threat and one count of obstruction of justice on Friday, authorities said.
Miley-Cruz is suspected of posting the threat to Snapchat on April 11, 2018, writing “Don’t go to Parma High School tomorrow friend, we are about to shoot that (expletive) up alright man? Don’t tell cops and you will be fine.”
After allegedly making the threat, Miley-Cruz gave authorities a false phone number, denied using the Snapchat user name associated with the threat and gave other false statements to hinder the investigation into the threats against Parma High School, according to authorities.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Smith said that law enforcement takes threats like the one made against Parma High School very seriously.
“Making threats to commit a school shooting are not taken lightly by law enforcement,” Smith said. “This individual induced fear in school personnel, students and their parents at Parma High School and wasted valuable law enforcement resources, and then he lied about being involved. Miley-Cruz will now answer to federal charges in a court of law.”
Parma Police Chief Joseph Bobak issued the following statement regarding Miley-Cruz’s indictment:
This individual caused fear and panic in our community by targeting and threatening school children. These threats affected students and staff at Parma High School for several days as frightened parents pulled their kids out of school. Parma Police detectives, working alongside special agents from the FBI, diligently pursued all available leads on this case culminating in today's arrest. I would like to thank the FBI for working together with our department to identify and arrest this individual. Without their assistance and resources, this outcome might not have been possible.
