Springfield, Ohio, Middle Schools, High School, City Buildings Evacuated Over Bomb Threats

Mar. 15, 2025

Springfield, Ohio.Photo:halbergman/Getty

Aerial still of Springfield, a city in Clark County, Ohio, on a clear day in Fall.

halbergman/Getty

Two middle schools and a high school in Springfield, Ohio, were evacuated because of two bomb threats made the morning of Friday, Sept. 13, as well as the Springfield City Hall and two other government buildings, a city official tells PEOPLE.

A third middle school was also preemptively closed before school started.

Springfield Police Department spokesperson Karen Graves tells PEOPLE that an initial email sent around 7:21 a.m. local time “targeted several City Commissioners and a city employee.” Another email sent about 25 minutes later directly threatened Cliff Park High School, Perrin Woods Elementary School and Roosevelt Middle School, as well as city hall, the city’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Ohio License Bureau Southside.

“In response to these threats, local and regional law enforcement, along with our public safety partners, have acted promptly,” Graves said, adding that law enforcement using bomb-sniffing K-9 units “conducted thorough inspections and cleared the facilities listed in the threats.”

The evacuations come one day after Springfield announced it was evacuating and shutting down government buildings and several other schools because of a bomb threat made in an email on Thursday, Sept. 12.

The localSpringfield News-Sun,NBC NewsandABC Newsalso reported Friday that officials had evacuated Snowhill Elementary School due to the threats, as well.

Graves said local police are working with the FBI “to determine the origin of these email threats.”

Police officers stand outside the Springfield City Hall after bomb threats were made against buildings earlier in the day in Springfield, Ohio on September 12, 2024. A government building and school were evacuated after an alleged bomb threat Thursday in Springfield, Ohio, local media reported, rattling the small city at the heart of an anti-migrant conspiracy theory amplified by Donald Trump. Springfield has been thrust into the spotlight in recent days after an unfounded story of Haitian migrants eating pets went viral on social media, with the Republican ex-president and current White House candidate pushing the narrative despite it being debunked.

ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty

BBCreportedearlier this week that the false rumor Trump espoused Tuesday had first become widespread after Republican vice presidential nomineeJ.D. Vancebegan repeating the claim on social media.

The outlet reports that Vance, whodoubled down on the claimafter Tuesday’s debate (despite city officials debunking it), appears to have picked up the falsehood from a local social media influencer who attended a Springfield, Ohio, city council meeting and complained about the outlandish scenario without providing any evidence to support the statements.

Graves also confirmed with PEOPLE earlier this week that there were also “no credible reports” of any such incidents taking place.

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty

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Meanwhile, Lana Marcius Joseph, a Haitian-born immigration lawyer who represents clients around the United States,told PEOPLEshe’s had clients reaching out this week asking if it’s safer to “relocate” from where they live in Springfield, Ohio.

source: people.com

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