Bomb scare at Miamisburg High prompts changes

More intense monitoring will occur at Miamisburg High School in the wake of Friday's evacuation after a bomb threat, the third of its kind at area schools this week.

While authorities continue to seek the person responsible in Friday's case, officials at the high school will have a more heightened awareness of activity in common areas and restrooms, where the threat that led to Friday's evacuation was found, according to Superintendent David Vail.

Students who make threats face criminal charges and potential expulsion from school.

The high school on Nunnery Drive dismissed students shortly after noon because a bomb threat was found written on a girl's restroom wall. SWAT and bomb detection crews were called, authorities said.

Friday's threat followed a similar one at Miamisburg Middle School on Tuesday and an evacuation Thursday at Kettering Fairmont High School after a bomb threat.

In the middle school threat, a 13-year-old boy was taken into custody on accusations he wrote a threatening note on a bathroom wall. The boy was apprehended at his home and was taken to Montgomery County Juvenile Detention Center. Police said the boy — as well as the person who made Friday's threat — will face criminal charges.

Friday night, Miami Twp. Police Chief Ron Hess said that boy has been formally charged with one count of felony delinquency by reason of inducing panic, a felony. A hearing in juvenile court is scheduled for later this month, the chief said.

The student in Tuesday's threat also faces a maximum punishment of a 10-day suspension with the recommendation that the suspect be expelled, Vail said. A similar fate awaits the culprit in Friday's threat, he said.

Vail said he does not think Tuesday's threat at the middle school was related to the one discovered Friday. However, he suspected Friday's threat was made by a student who had heard about the Fairmont threat and sought a similar result.

Miamisburg police said they received calls after 10:20 a.m. regarding the threat. Kettering SWAT crews and bomb detection crews from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base responded. The building went on lockdown and was later cleared, police said.