Woman charged with inducing panic

BOARDMAN — A Warren woman has been charged with inducing panic stemming from a cell-phone photograph that circulated among students at Byzantine Catholic Central School.

Tisha Allen, 29, of Shalom Avenue Northwest, is to appear in Mahoning County Court today on the felony charge.

BCC officials canceled classes Monday and contacted police after some students received a cell-phone picture of a man pointing what appeared to be a gun to his head. It also contained a text message about the man, who is the estranged husband of a teacher, coming to the school to shoot people and himself.

Police investigated and found the threat to be unfounded.

Allen is the girlfriend of the man in the photo and Chief Patrick Berarducci said the incident was a joke. The teacher, who reportedly had used the cell phone of a student, has resigned.