News
Gallipolis Man Allegedly Threatens To ‘Kill A Cop’
By: WOUB Staff reports
Posted on:
Update 10 a.m.: Russell’s bond was set at $15,000 in Athens County Municipal Court. He was also told by Judge William Grim that he could not be on Ohio University property without the escort of a OUPD officer.
A Gallipolis man and Ohio University student is being held at a southeastern Ohio jail after allegedly threatening police through a social media post.
Nickolaus D. Russell, 19, was arrested Friday by university police at his residence in Boyd Hall. He was charged with one count of terroristic threatening after police investigated a social media post they were told stated a then-anonymous male intended to “kill a cop.” charged with one count of making a terroristic threat, according to the Ohio University Police Department.
Police were told about the post Friday morning and identified Russell as the alleged source and arrested him without incident at noon, a news release stated.
“This case is another example of how well-coordinated law enforcement and homeland security resources are today,” Police Chief Andrew Powers stated in the release.
University police worked with the Ohio Homeland Security’s Strategic Analysis and Information Center and the Ohio State High Patrol’s Intelligence Unit, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center in Philadelphia. No explanation for the use of an intelligence center in Philadelphia was given in the release.
Russell is being held on $10,000 bond at the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail. He faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison on the third-degree felony charge, according to police.