MADISON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The Butler County Sheriff's Office is investigating alleged threats towards a Madison Local Schools student after photos circulating on social media showed a group of people discussing how they would kill him.
Madison Local School District first posted on social media Wednesday that the district was aware of social media posts regarding "a potential threat toward Madison today."
"The district is actively addressing the situation and has taken appropriate steps to ensure the safety of our students and employees," the statement says. "We appreciate your cooperation and support as we prioritize the well-being of our school community."
Watch: We spoke with a local parent who passed along photos of the alleged group chat
A Madison Local Schools parent sent us screenshots of the texts and spoke with us on terms of anonymity. She said she didn't know there was an investigation until the district put out the statement. That prompted her to go searching for more information online.
"For everything to just be, 'Oh, we took care of it, don't worry' — I'm not just going to take that as an acceptable answer. That's not an acceptable answer, especially with the standards they've already set for themselves with being transparent. That's what's got me concerned," she said.
The parent said the district has dealt with threats in the past. She referenced an incident involving a seventh grader last year, as well as a shooting in 2016.
"We've had more of these incidents than days in the year," she said.
An incident report from the sheriff's office says a deputy on Tuesday night responded to a Madison Township home for a harassment report. There, they spoke to a father who showed them a group chat between 14 people discussing how they would kill his child.
In the chat, the incident report says that one person asks, "Can we kill him," and then said, "yas we will kill him tomorrow."
Photos obtained by WCPO 9 show another person responding, "Okay so we're are we all meeting to kill him?"
"I have a bunch of woods behind my backyard.If we want to bury him there," the first person says.
The incident report says the two also discussed ambushing him at his home.
"I will kill you, you hippo ugly no friend rat," the report says one person wrote.
The two also discuss weapons they can bring, including a pocket knife, metal bats and a gun.
The incident report says the discussion to kill the boy appears to be "over the girlfriend of the victim breaking up with him."
School officials did not provide specifics, only saying that they are working with law enforcement to address the situation. Superintendent Jeff Staggs emphasized the district's focus on ensuring student and staff safety when we reached out to him Thursday.
"Madison Local Schools cannot comment about individual students. However, understand that the District takes every allegation involving student safety seriously. It investigates those allegations, contacts law enforcement and acts to protect students and staff in every instance," Staggs wrote us. "Thank you for your support of the Madison Local School District.
The parent who sent us the screenshots said she kept her child home Thursday due to the limited information shared with parents so far.
"I do not know if these kids who are planning to murder another child are in that school or not," she said.
In a social media post, one of the children who is accused of being in the group chat mentions that they are in trouble with the school and references a suspension as a "free vacation."
