The Chillicothe Police Department reports they have been investigating social media and and texting apps threats against CHS...that have turned out to be from out-of-state.
Captain Ron Meyers reports that on Tuesday, the Chillicothe Police Department began an investigation involving threats made from social media and texting apps.
The person sending the threats demanded pictures of the victim. The immediate threats were focused on Chillicothe High School, where the suspect stated “I am coming to school Wednesday with full lethal weapons I'm tired of all the bullying" and "I need to find this girl or I'm gonna shoot up the school."
A detective was assigned the case immediately, and contact with several social media outlets were initiated. One screenshot in the threats had a picture of an IP address located in Ross Co.
With the assistance of the Ross County Sheriff’s office, a search warrant was served at that location.
The residents were interviewed and there was no indication they were involved in the case. A search warrant was also served on electronic devices located in the residence, which were forensically scanned, and showed no evidence they had been used in the threats.
As these events were occurring, other detectives assigned to the case were learning that the messages were coming from out of state. Again, contact was made with social media sites. Detectives reviewed information from social media sites such as snapchat and youtube.
Email accounts, account names and other information such as IP addresses, date and time stamps, etc. indicated the person was in New York. Police detectives in turn contacted authorities in New York where they began their own investigation.
During the course of the investigation, several detectives were assigned to the case. Police report the safety of the students was the most important concern, and they reached out to other agencies to provide bomb dogs.
Prior to school opening for students, a sweep of the school was conducted. After opening the school, uniformed officers showed a presence throughout the school day. During the investigation, there was no indication the threats were being made by a local person, or the person making the threats posed an immediate threat.
The case is still under investigation and has been turned over to officials in New York.