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11-Year-Olds Arrested For Making Fake School Shooting Reports in Ohio

Three campuses were reported to have active shooter threats, but police in Newark, Ohio said the calls were faked by two students.

  • By Haley Samsel
  • December 16, 2019

A pair of 11-year-old students in Ohio were arrested last week for making threatening phone calls to 911 about three Ohio schools, according to police in Newark, Ohio.

The two students, who attend Newark City Schools, were arrested on Thursday afternoon for making three active shooter reports. All three campuses were checked by officers, who found no threats.

"We responded and determined them to be false," Newark Police Sgt. Doug Wells said, according to The Newark Advocate. "We've got a lot of parents calling ... all reports have been a hoax."

A spokesman for the school district, Seth Roy, told the Advocate that the first they had heard of the threats was when police showed up at the schools, which included a middle school and elementary school. One call alerted police to a threat in the morning, while another came in the early afternoon.

"Police checked out the building and determined the calls were false,” Roy said. “Someone later made a call, shortly after noon, to 911 alleging that an active incident was happening at Liberty. There was nothing happening, another false call."

The students’ previous criminal records and the seriousness of the offenses usually determine what penalties the youth will face, according to Wells. Police have not yet determined if the students will be placed in juvenile detention or house arrest.

"The Newark Division of Police will not tolerate these types of calls and will continue to investigate and prosecute all cases like this one," the department said in a press release.

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

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