Incident at Coventry High School among school shooting hoaxes across Ohio

Danielle Bendum, 17, a senior at Coventry High School, gets a hug Tuesday from her mother, Kara Harbarger, after being released from school after it was placed on lockdown after a caller made a hoax report of a shooting there.
Danielle Bendum, 17, a senior at Coventry High School, gets a hug Tuesday from her mother, Kara Harbarger, after being released from school after it was placed on lockdown after a caller made a hoax report of a shooting there.

The Summit County Sheriff's Office said no shots were fired and no injuries were reported Tuesday afternoon after an apparent hoax caller told authorities that a man had just shot four students and barricaded himself inside Coventry High School.

Sheriff's spokesman Bill Holland confirmed that the school had been cleared and students were released to rejoin their parents by 2:40 p.m.

"The students were evacuated and taken to a safe location while the school was searched for the active shooter that was reported," Holland said.

The first call came in about 1 p.m., the second a little bit later.

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Parents anxiously wait outside a fenced area at Coventry High School on Tuesday while authorities investigate and apparent hoax call claiming a man had shot people inside the school.
Parents anxiously wait outside a fenced area at Coventry High School on Tuesday while authorities investigate and apparent hoax call claiming a man had shot people inside the school.

"Initially, just one call," Holland told the Beacon Journal. "Additional call later from somebody who claimed a separate incident." He said the two calls could be related.

The sheriff's office said that it received a call around 1 p.m. Tuesday from a person individual who claimed he was inside the high school and had just shot four students, giving his name before ending the call.

The sheriff's office evacuated the school and looked for the alleged assailant in the school and surrounding premises, eventually determining the call was a hoax and reunifying students with their parents around 3:30 p.m.

Fearful students texted their families as authorities converged on the school.

Sue Hennigin of Springfield Township received a text from her 11th-grade granddaughter alerting her to the situation and letting her know that students were safely assembled together.

"She texted, saying 'they are in lockdown. Nobody can get in, and nobody can get out.'"

Hennigin said she picks up her granddaughter two or three times a week. The 11th-grader's mom, Hennigin said, had heard of the threat and was upset.

"Her mom's in a panic," she said.

Another parent, Michael Falkenstein, said his wife called him at 1:07 p.m. to alert him to the threat. He said his daughter told him police were going room to room to escort students to safety at outdoor bleachers.

"She can hear the cops yelling downstairs," he said. Anyone witnessing the scene, he said, would naturally conclude that a serious situation was unfolding.

"When they're putting stuff on to protect themselves, that tells me it's an active shooter," Falkenstein said.

No injuries were reported Tuesday after an apparent hoax caller told authorities that a man had just shot four students and barricaded himself inside Coventry High School.
No injuries were reported Tuesday after an apparent hoax caller told authorities that a man had just shot four students and barricaded himself inside Coventry High School.

First responders from several neighboring communities responded to the scene, including the New Franklin Police Department, Ohio Division of Natural Resources, Ohio State Highway Patrol, U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and the New Franklin, Clinton, Lakemore, Green and Coventry fire departments.

By 2 p.m., most of the emergency response teams had left the area.

"I appreciate the work of our first responders," Coventry Local School District Superintendent George Fisk said Tuesday. "They were there within minutes of the call."

The Summit County Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau is investigating the incident.

At least two other similar hoaxes were reported Tuesday in Ohio. One at Olentangy High School in Lewis Center, Ohio near Columbus and one at Elder High School in Cincinnati. Similar reports surfaced Tuesday in Iowa.

It appears to be the latest swatting case in the area. "Swatting" is making a hoax call to law enforcement to deliberately cause a large police or SWAT team response. Sometimes, an individual does it to single out someone specific, but the calls can also be done in waves as a trend to seemingly random targets.

Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hoax shooting reported at Coventry High School, sheriffs office says