BAY VILLAGE, Ohio — Bay High School in Bay Village was put into lockdown on Friday afternoon.
Officers spent the afternoon sweeping the building room by room. No credible weapons or threats were found by police during a sweep of the building. Any rumors floating around pertaining to hostages or threats were unfounded.
According to Bay Village Police Chief Kathy Leasure, a call came in at 12:57 p.m. to the department's non-emergency line reporting that there was an individual in one of the school's bathrooms with “guns and knives” who wanted to “shoot up the school.” The caller had a man's voice. Leasure says detectives are working to trace the number.
Bay's School Resource Officer was notified and the building was placed on lockdown shortly after. Bay Village police officers were assisted by other law enforcement agencies, including the Ohio State Highway Patrol, at the scene.
Bay School officials dismissed students at the high school to Bay Presbyterian Church at 25415 Lake Road in Bay Village. The district told parents not to return to Bay High School to retrieve cars or other belongings. The rest of the district buildings were dismissed, but no bus transportation is being provided.
The Bay Police Department released the following statement:
"On January 29, at 12:57pm, the Bay Village Police Department received a call from a person with a male’s voice reporting that an individual was in one of the high school bathrooms with guns and knives, threatening to shoot up the school. Bay Village Dispatch advised the School Resource Officer and patrol officers were dispatched to the scene. The school was notified and was put on lockdown. Mutual aid was requested from surrounding agencies.
"Officers on scene performed a systematic, protective sweep of the building finding no active threats. A second, more thorough, search was conducted with no results. At this point, students were methodically released from their classrooms and escorted to school busses that were staged nearby. They were then taken by school bus to Bay Presbyterian Church where they were reunited with their parents.
"Bay Village Detectives are investigating the incident. There have been NO arrests made in this case. Any names being associated with this case should not be deemed valid unless released by the Bay Village Police Department. It appears at this point that there was never any threat to Bay High Students or staff, rather this was a potential incident of “Swatting” or purposely causing alarm through police response.
"There were no injuries during this event but a squad was called for a student having an anxiety attack. She was treated and released on scene to her parents."
Multiple police departments assisted at the scene. You can watch the press conference featuring Chief Leasure in the player below:
You can also see our photo gallery and drone footage of the incident below:
PHOTOS | Bay High School placed on lockdown, no credible threat or weapons found
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