Howland woman charged with making false school-threats allegations

Staff report

WARREN

The Howland Police Department has filed a felony charge of making false alarms against a Howland woman they say falsely alleged that her estranged husband had made threats of school violence in December.

Vanessa A. Ackley, 40, of Glen Oaks Drive, was arraigned Monday in Warren Municipal Court. A not guilty plea was entered, and she was released on bond.

Howland police first began to investigate her claims when she alleged that her husband had held her hostage in their home in December. He was charged with domestic violence, but a county grand jury refused to indict him Feb. 13.

She contacted members of the news media in December and again in the days following the Florida school shootings about her allegations that her husband had made threats of committing a school shooting.

In a call to a reporter three days after the Florida shootings, she talked about a school-shooter tip that she says was ignored by the local office of the FBI and having the threats on tape.

Howland police say they have listened to the recordings, and they do not contain evidence that her husband threatened to carry out a school shooting.

In a Howland police report, a reason given for filing the charge was the “amount of law enforcement services used from the FBI, Howland Township Police Department and Howland [schools] for these false allegations.”