Police investigate threats against Welty Middle School, other districts around the state

NEW PHILADELPHIA ‒ Area law enforcement officials are investigating a threat made on social media against Welty Middle School ‒ a threat similar to others made against schools in Ohio, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania.

Police Chief Tessa Pohovey said there is no reason to believe it is an active threat.

Police became aware of a threat on Tuesday evening on Snapchat that mentioned Welty Middle School. She said it was identical to a threat made against Buckeye Local Schools in Jefferson County. That threat led Buckeye Local officials to close schools on Wednesday.

Pohovey said police take these threats seriously. Security was bolstered at Welty Middle School on Wednesday morning.

These kinds of threats are frustrating to police because the one on Tuesday caused her department to pull a lot of resources to respond to the situation, she said. These threats are difficult to investigate, she added.

The threat is still being investigated.

Guernsey and Muskingum counties

Rolling Hills Local School District in Guernsey County and Tri-Valley School District in Muskingum County were also victims of this larger Snapchat-born threats.

The Guernsey County Sheriff's Office and local resource officers were alerted of a potential social media-fueled threat listing "several schools being targeted for violence through the country," with a Rolling Hills elementary school found among them.

"Upon reviewing the message in further detail, deputies determined that the message was not an actual threat," read the post on the Guernsey County Sheriff's Facebook release. "It was found to be a list of schools in districts that are considered to be available for the government's target assistance plan."

The danger has since been debunked, he added. Instead, the graphic of alphabetized school names that initially startled at least one worried student was a list of facilities for the Title 1 Targeted Assistance Program.

"So we were able to determine (there weren't) really any threats or directed threats or anything like that. So whoever began sharing that, whether it be out of concern or to cause some type of panic, they misconstrued what it was. It just kind of got shared and kind of took off like a wildfire at that school district."

Sam Williams, a captain with the Guernsey County Sheriff's Office, also confirmed the findings of the investigation. "Screenshots had been shared through contacts that they (a student) had through the social media app Snapchat, and it was concerning to them. They took it to the staff. The staff then alerts our school resource officer," explained Williams.

Williams also speculated that a shooting threat and subsequent lockdown at Buckeye Local School District in mostly Jefferson County earlier in the week could've put students, staff, and parents more on edge around the Ohio Valley, partially driving a hysteria in both Guernsey and Muskingum.

In Muskingum, a similar problem circulated in the Tri-Valley district, as revealed in a Facebook release from the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday night. They and school officials "are investigating a complaint of a school threat in the Tri-Valley District."

"The Muskingum County Sheriff's Office is aware of the social media posts about threats to schools across Ohio. Our (school resource officers) are in contact with their schools, and at this time, there is no credible threat to students or staff. We will continue to monitor this situation going forward and will update as needed," their post on Facebook read.

What were seen as threats were sent to many schools across the state, producing off-shoots that varied by region or school district, stated Muskingum County Sheriff Matthew Lutz. But it appeared that the Muskingum and Guernsey events could be traced back to the social media post that affected Buckeye Local.

With that, an arrest had reportedly been made in connection to the Tri-Valley event, but not much could be disclosed about the case at this point. "The arrest was connected to the original social media post," Lutz shared, at least going back to the Buckeye Local scare.

But all in all, "there was no credible threat determined in our arrest," stated Lutz. He noted, too, that "there was some alarm caused, and we will have to provide more once charges are reviewed by the prosecutor's office." The arrested party was a minor.

Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Police investigate threat made against Welty Middle School