News
Public Forum Planned After Schools Close Due To Threat
By: Susan Tebben
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LOGAN— One local school that closed over an online threat is now hosting a public forum about school safety.
Logan-Hocking schools announced a Community Forum for School Safety Policies and Procedures, which is scheduled for March 1 at 7 p.m.
“LHSD’s School Safety Policies & Procedures will be discussed, along with any updates on today’s unfortunate circumstances,” a post on the district’s Facebook stated.
The school was closed Friday due to a vague threat that claimed a shooting would happen at “LHS,” but did not specifically mention Logan-Hocking schools. For that reason, Lancaster High School was also closed on Friday.
Logan Police Department Officer Chris Smith, who is also one of the school resource officers, heard about the threat at about 8:30 Thursday evening. When he heard the Lancaster Police Department was already investigating the threat, he met with school officials.
“From there, our superintendent made a decision to go ahead and close our schools for the day, because we still weren’t sure if it was a threat actually on Logan High School or Lancaster High School, both of them being ‘LHS,'” Smith said.
The Lancaster Police Department is still investigating the threat, in which they say a female student received a phone call from an unknown number on her cell phone, but did not immediately answer the call. When she called back, another female was on the other line.
“The suspect replied, ‘don’t go to school tomorrow. There’s going to be a shooting,’” according to a statement from Lancaster police. “The suspect did not mention any particular school.”
A family member of the student then sent out text messages claiming Lancaster High School was going to be the target of a shooting, and his message was shared on social media. “Dozens of callers” notified police, resulting in classes being cancelled.
No suspect has been identified and no arrests have been made in relation to the threat.
Logan’s Assistant Superintendent Christy Bosch said the district is confident in the safety procedures they have in place, but are continually reviewing them. That’s why the community forum was an important event, not only to go over existing procedures, but to hear new ideas and promote vigilance.
“We’re really talking about and trying to get our message out: if you see something, say something,” Bosch said.
The community forum will be held at Logan-Hocking Middle School’s Theatre. Both Logan and Lancaster school districts plan to be open on Monday.