Madison local schools closed due to threat, schools to close early

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio – Madison Local Schools were closed Friday morning after a threat was made, according to a statement from the school district.

The district said on social media that all students are safe.

“This morning, Madison Local Schools received a threat and the school district immediately initiated a lockdown procedure,” the district wrote.

The Butler County Sheriff’s Office said the threat occurred around 7:36 a.m. A school district employee received a voicemail in which an unknown person threatened to “shoot up the school,” the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said deputies detained and are interviewing a seventh-grade student, but officials did not say whether that student is a suspect or will face charges.

Classes for elementary school have been canceled and buses are returning students home, the district said. Parents in the elementary school drop-off line will be asked to take their children back home, according to the post.

Middle and high schools will have buses taking students home at 10 a.m. and students who drive will also be able to leave, according to the district.

The threat hits very close to home for the district; On February 29, 2016, James Austin Hancock, then 14 years old, He entered the high school cafeteria and opened fire with a gun his grandmother had given him.

That day he shot two of his classmates, wounding them. Two other students were injured when they were hit by shrapnel or while trying to avoid gunfire. All of the students injured that day recovered from their injuries.

Hancock pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder; He told police he shot his classmates because he was unhappy at home. He was sent to a juvenile detention center until he turned 21.