CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Several schools throughout Ohio were placed on lockdown on Wednesday due to threats.

ROCKY RIVER CITY SCHOOLS

Rocky River High School got a phone call at approximately 10:53 a.m. threatening the safety of the school.

The Rocky River Police Department said the caller said they were heading to the school with weapons, RRPD later shared in a press conference.

Police officers teamed up by mutual aid swiftly arrived to ensure no unauthorized persons were on campus, RRPD stated.

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“Rooms were cleared and no dangers were located,” RRPD said. “There are no indications that there was ever any danger to any of the students, staff or buildings of the district.”

Parents told 19 News their kids sent them pictures of officers walking through the halls with rifles.

Rocky River High School will have early dismissal as there will be a heavy police presence in and around the Rocky River Schools for the rest of Wednesday and throughout the week, according to RRPD.

Students who drive were expected to be released by 12:30 p.m., while students who walk or are picked up by parents were released at 1 p.m., RRPD shared.

RRPD called the phone call a swatting incident, and said “any person or people behind hoax threat calls will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

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Chief George Lichman says they are working with other agencies to find out who made the call. They said the number that popped up was not local. They do not know at this time if it was an incorrect number or a computerized message.

Chief Lichman says he doesn’t believe the school system has experienced a swatting call before.

There will be additional officers on campus throughout the week.

AUBURN CAREER CENTER

Auburn Career Center in Lake County’s Concord Township received a threat over the phone at approximately 10:16 a.m., Lake County Sheriff Frank Leonbruno stated.

Deputies were immediately sent to the school to assist the School Resource Officer in the investigation as a lockdown was implemented as a precaution.

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Auburn Career Center shared at 12:55 p.m. that a thorough investigation determined the threat to be not credible, and all students were safely dismissed and left the building, which remained guarded by deputies.

All afternoon and evening classes for both high school and adult education scheduled for Wednesday have been canceled in light of the morning’s event.

“We want to thank the Lake County Sheriff’s Office for their immediate response and partnership during this situation,” said Superintendent Joe Glavan. “I also want to thank our staff and students for following procedures and doing exactly what was necessary to ensure everyone’s safety. While this threat was ultimately deemed not credible, we will always prioritize the safety of our students and staff.”

Leonbruno confirmed there is no active threat at Auburn Career Center, but the incident remains under investigation.

SHAKER HEIGHTS CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Shaker Heights High School briefly went under lockdown as a precaution during Pre-ACT and ACT testing after getting a call of a possible bomb threat outside of the building, Shaker Schools stated.

Shaker Schools also said Fernway and Onaway elementary schools briefly went into a lockdown.

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Shaker Heights Police Department officers are at the high school and “have not found any evidence of a credible threat,” Shaker Schools stated.

FBI CLEVELAND

FBI Cleveland shared the following statement in regards to their response to the Northeast Ohio school swatting incidents:

OTTAWA HILLS LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

In the Toledo area, Ottawa Hills Superintendent Adam Fineske said a call for a bomb threat came in at 10:45 a.m., targeting the Junior/Senior High School, stating “Bombs all over the school and coming with guns.”

Toledo Police K-9 units swept the school and nothing was found.

BOWLING GREEN CITY SCHOOLS

Bowling Green High School was also affected by the treats and placed on lockdown as a precautionary measure just before noon.

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INDIAN HILL EXEMPTED VILLAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Indian Hill High School in Cincinnati evacuated students and staff around 11 a.m. on Wednesday with the help of Indian Hill Rangers after getting a potential bomb threat.

Indian Hill Middle School was evacuated as a precaution.

MASON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Mason High School received a threatening phone call on Wednesday morning, Mason City Schools confirmed.

The Mason Police Department and Campus Safety team determined it was safe to resume normal school operations at 11:44 a.m. when law enforcement confirmed there was no credible threat to the schools, Mason City Schools stated.

CINCINNATI PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Cincinnati Public Schools’ Walnut Hills High School was under lock-in after receiving a bomb threat.

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The lock-in was lifted after Cincinnati police cleared the area, and school resumed normal operations.

This is a developing story. Return to 19 News for updates.

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It was a particularly heinous crime. Four workers at a cemetery near Chicago dug up more than 100 bodies and dumped the remains elsewhere in the grounds, in order to resell the burial plots for profit.

Now, nearly two decades after the scandal broke at Burr Oak cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, scientists have released details of how a tiny clump of moss became crucial forensic evidence that helped convict the grave robbers.

Dr Matt von Konrat, head of botanical collections at the Field Museum in Chicago, was drawn into the case in 2009 when he received a phone call from the FBI. “They asked if I knew about moss and brought the evidence to the museum,” he said.

An investigation by local police had found human remains buried under inches of earth at the cemetery, a site of enormous historical importance. Several prominent African Americans are buried at the cemetery, including Emmett Till, whose murder in 1955 became a catalyst for the civil rights movement, and the blues singer Dinah Washington.

Alongside the re-buried remains, forensic specialists spotted various plants, including a piece of moss about the size of a fingertip. Hoping that it would help them crack the case, the FBI asked von Konrat to work out where the moss came from and how long it had been there.

After examining the moss under a microscope and comparing it with dried specimens in the museum’s collection, the scientists identified it as common pocket moss, or Fissidens taxifolius. A survey at the cemetery found that the species did not grow where the corpses were discovered, but was abundant in a lightly shaded area beneath some trees where police suspected the bodies had been dug up. The moss had evidently been moved with the bodies.

But when was the crime committed? The answer lay in a quirk of moss biology. “This is the cool thing about moss,” von Konrat said. “When we’re dead, we’re dead, but with mosses, it’s bizarre. Even when we might think they’re dead, they can still have an active metabolism.” The metabolism drops slowly over time as cells gradually die off.

One way to measure moss metabolism is to bathe it in light and see how much is absorbed by the chlorophyll used to make food through photosynthesis, and how much light is re-emitted. The scientists ran tests on the moss found with the bodies, on a fresh clump from the cemetery, and other specimens from the museum’s collection.

“We concluded that the moss had been buried for less than 12 months and that was important because the accused’s whole line of defence was that the crime took place before their employment. They were arguing that it happened years and years earlier,” said von Konrat. Details are published in Forensic Sciences Research.

Doug Seccombe, a former FBI agent who worked on the case and a co-author of the study, said the plant material from the cemetery was “key” to securing the convictions when the case went to trial.

Von Konrat, who is a fan of the BBC forensic science drama Silent Witness, never expected to be working on a criminal case, but now wants to highlight how important mosses might be for forensic investigations. “I had no idea we’d be using our science, our collections, in this manner,” he said. “It underscores how important natural history collections are. We never know how we might apply them in the future.”