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WARREN -- Some parents sent their children back to class Monday morning, but some may have opted to keep their children home after several area schools were targeted by nationwide bomb threats.
Several Ohio public school districts, including area schools, received threatening swatting emails Sunday, which the FBI office in Cleveland has since deemed to be "noncredible."
An FBI spokesperson said in a statement, "While we have no information to indicate a specific and credible threat, we will continue to work with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention. We urge the public to remain vigilant, and report any and all suspicious activity and/or individuals to law enforcement immediately."
A call went out to families from Anthony Calderone, superintendent of LaBrae Local Schools, stating the district received an emailed message from an account claiming to be a Russian organization targeting American schools. The district was just one of many schools across the nation to receive threats to simultaneously set off explosive devices in schools.
Multiple area school districts also released statements regarding the matter, including Newton Falls Exempted Village Schools, which said it also received the series of concerning emails.
"This evening we conducted a sweep of all buildings in the district with the assistance from the Trumbull County Sheriff's Department and the Newton Falls Fire Department. All of our buildings have been deemed safe and school will be open tomorrow," a message from the district posted to their school's website on Sunday stated.
Justin Christopher, superintendent of Newton Falls, said the school had a 30 percent reduction in attendance as a result of the threats.
The district said it was informed by the Ohio Homeland Security / Terrorism Analysis Unit and the Statewide Terrorism Analysis & Crime Center, the emails appear to be part of a swatting campaign or hoax.
Trumbull Career and Technical Center did not receive a threat, but said in a statement they were notified by Champion police and the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office about its existence.
The school still erred on the side of caution as it implemented "heightened security measures," as students returned to class Monday morning.
Champion Local Schools also wanted to be cautious. In its message to parents the school superintendent said Cortland police completed a sweep of the district's buildings and school grounds, while also increasing police presence.
Champion Superintendent John Grabowski said the school had a higher rate of students not attending Monday, but said he could not attribute that to parents keeping their kids home from fear of the threats.
The emailed threats are similar to ones sent to school districts across the state of Texas last week. Authorities also investigated the threats and deemed them to also be non-credible.
A statement from the FBI office in Cleveland was released further addressing the issue of swatting.
"Swatting is a criminal activity by an individual (or group) who knowingly provides false information about a possible threat to life by making a call to any emergency service agency to elicit an emergency response to an ongoing critical incident. Incidents typically produce the deployment of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) units, bomb squads, and other police units, as well as the evacuations of schools, businesses and residences," a statement from an FBI spokesperson Monday afternoon.
The series of threatening emails also targeted schools in Akron, Cincinnati, Hamilton City Schools, Twinsburg, Parma, North Olmsted, among others.