MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Two local schools were placed on lockdown Wednesday morning because of a threat of violence, according to Butler County spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Peters.
Officials lifted lockdowns at Middletown and Lakota East high schools at 12:31 p.m. The threat was unsubstantiated.
Peters said a Middletown High School student received a text message from an automated system that reminds people of appointments at the school's wellness center at about 7:30 a.m.
The student then replied to the reminder saying they were going to "shoot up a school," Peters said.
As a precaution, Middletown Police Department placed all K-12 buildings on lockdown.
During the investigation of the threat, police said the cell phone "pinged" at two locations -- Middletown High School and Lakota East High School.
Lakota East High School was put on lockdown because of the ping, police said.
Peters said police interviewed a student at Lakota East High School but released the student because the report was unfounded.
Police also located a student they said texted the threat to shoot up a school at Middletown High School.
Authorities said the student who made the threat is being charged with inducing panic.
"We implemented our crisis response plan, which places the highest priority on the health and safety of our staff, students, and community. Everyone responded quickly and followed prescribed police and school safety procedures," Middletown school officials said in a statement.
WCPO will update this story as more information becomes available.
