By: Max Bruns & Taylor Zachary
Unsuspecting families and law enforcement officers were the targets of a series of bomb threats last week.
The Cincinnati Zoo received a bomb threat in the early afternoon of Sept. 8.
Staff personnel quickly responded by contacting local law enforcement agents and evacuating guests as well as themselves. Shortly after the evacuation, the zoo released a statement.
“The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical gardens safely evacuated staff and guests today around 3:30 p.m. as a precaution after an unspecified threat was called into the Cincinnati Police,” the statement said. “The Zoo takes all threats seriously. We will continue to work with the Cincinnati Police to ensure the zoo remains a safe environment.”
Following the reported threat, Cincinnati Police brought bomb dogs to survey the zoo facilities.
The threat ended at 5:30 p.m., however the Zoo kept the doors closed for the remainder of the day due to ongoing safety concerns.
The following night, bomb threats led families and fans to evacuate Mason High School’s football stadium, as the team prepared to play Moeller High School.
The caller who reported the threat claimed there would be an explosion at two tailgating locations and all responding officers would be shot.
As the threat came at approximately 6:10 p.m., the 7 p.m. game was canceled.
All persons in attendance of the games were safely evacuated, and no one was injured in the process.
Since the incident, a Mason High School student has been identified as a suspect.
Several hours after Mason High School evacuated their football stadium, Police officers learned of a bomb threat to Colerain High School.
The threat came at approximately 10 p.m. while the Colerain High football game was coming to a close.
Officers decided to allow the game to conclude and prepare a “protected evacuation” of fans, students, and coaches.
After the final whistle, officers blocked off traffic entering the school and organized a clean departure of over 10,000 attendees.
Officers reported that no one was injured in the process of evacuation.
The Butler County bomb squad used K-9’s to sweep the area for explosives.
As of Friday night, no explosives had been found.