A series of emails allegedly from a Russian terrorist organization were sent to schools across Ohio threatening violence, according to the Ohio School Public Relations Association.
Many Northeast Ohio school districts shared via Facebook that they were among those who received the email, including Berea, Akron, Amherst, Brunswick, Parma, North Olmsted, Lakewood and Cuyahoga Falls. According to the FBI and the Cleveland Joint Terrorism Task Force, the threats were found to be non-credible.
NON-CREDIBLE THREAT.
— Mike Holden (@MikeHoldenNews) December 11, 2023
Multiple schools across NE Ohio received emails threatening violence, claiming to be from Russian Terrorist organization. Investigators say it’s a swatting situation. Following the story on @WEWS pic.twitter.com/wRWuoJ0ZBI
As a precaution, schools sent out emails to families notifying them of the "swatting" incidents.
The FBI released the following statement about the hoax:
"The FBI is aware of the numerous hoax incidents wherein a bomb threat at a school is made. The FBI takes hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk. While we have no information to indicate a specific and credible threat, we will continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention. We urge the public to remain vigilant, and report any and all suspicious activity and/or individuals to law enforcement immediately."
The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is involved in the investigation. The FBI would not comment further on camera, but News 5 spoke to retired FBI Special Agent David Morgan. Morgan worked on the JTTF squad before retiring. He now owns TMD Security Consulting. Morgan said law enforcement probably discovered the threats were a hoax pretty quickly. "In this case, because of the number of victims, the number of recipients of the email, the fact that there's schools in Texas, schools in Ohio that are getting the email tells you pretty quickly the threat's not credible," explained Morgan.
The Big Creek Elementary School received one of the emails and, as an added precaution, took "extensive measures to ensure the safety of our students and staff. This includes a complete search of the school by a bomb-sniffing dog and safety personnel, which resulted in no dangerous materials being found," the Berea City School district said in a letter to families.
The letter said there will also be a heightened presence in and around the Berea School District.
Although Avon City Schools did not receive any threat, they notified families that "school will be in session tomorrow and as a precaution, there will be additional police presence in all of our buildings," the school said in an email to staff and families.
In Brunswick, the district has officers at their buildings and swept the schools before students arrived at school Monday.
The OHSPRA stated that the "swatting" emails are similar to incidents in Texas on Friday, which were also found to be non-credible.
A similar situation happened in California last month.
