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12-year-old Boardman student arrested for school threat
BOARDMAN
A 12-year-old Glenwood Junior High School student faces felony charges in connection with a school threat.
According to a police report and a statement from the school district, officials became aware of the threat Friday morning. The student, identified in a police report as seventh-grade student Ian Campbell, was arrested later that day.
Police said a student reported hearing people on the bus talking about how another student was going to “shoot up the school.”
A school resource officer, principal and guidance counselor then interviewed a group of students who told officials about group messages on Instagram in which Campbell talked about polishing a rifle, according to the report. The students also told officials about a threatening comment Campbell made during a school safety presentation, and reported he had posted a picture on Instagram of a gun and another post referring to Nikolas Cruz, the teenager who allegedly killed 17 people in a shooting at a Florida high school last month.
“All of the listed witnesses advised they frequently hear Campbell in school making comments regarding, ‘shooting up the school,’” the police report notes. Campbell was interviewed by police and school officials Friday, and the school resource officer and principal visited his residence and spoke with his mother, according to the report.
He was arrested at the school later Friday on charges of inducing panic, and a charge stemming from him deleting content on his phone before police took the phone. According to the police report, that charge is tampering with evidence. He was taken to the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center.
Campbell will not be permitted to return to the school until it is deemed safe for him to return, school officials said.
“The Boardman schools will not tolerate bad behavior or threats of violence,” Superintendent Timothy Saxton said in a statement. “The safety of our students and staff is always our top priority. Threats and violence of any kind involving social media create panic and disrupt education in our schools. Students have been repeatedly warned this will not be tolerated in Boardman.”
An investigation found Campbell did not have a weapon or access to weapons, the district said in a news release.