SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Bomb threats on Friday forced the evacuation and closure of public schools and municipal buildings for a second consecutive day, as the city continues to deal with sudden national attention because of false claims involving its Haitian population.
Students at Perrin Woods and Snowhill Elementary Schools in Springfield "were evacuated from their buildings to an alternate district location," school district spokesperson Jenna Leinasars said.
Roosevelt Middle School was "closed prior to the beginning of the school day" in relation to the information received from the Springfield Police Department, Leinasars added.
In addition to those school evacuations, several city commissioners and a municipal employee were the target of an emailed bomb threat, city spokesperson Karen Graves said.
A second email threatened multiple locations that included Springfield City Hall, Cliff Park High School, Perrin Woods Elementary School, Roosevelt Middle School, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Ohio License Bureau Southside, Graves added.
"As a precaution, all affected buildings have been evacuated. Authorities, with the support of explosive detection canines, have conducted thorough inspections and cleared the facilities listed in the threats," Graves said in a statement.
Local police and FBI agents based in Dayton are working "to determine the origin of these email threats," the city official said.
The city just west of Columbus has been the focal point of a national political firestorm that has included false rumors that Haitian immigrants have been stealing and eating household pets. City officials and police have said there is no credible information to support those outlandish claims.
Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have pushed those false claims as part of a broader effort to use Springfield as an example of what they say are the harmful consequences of immigration.
"Springfield is a beautiful community, and your pets are safe in Springfield, Ohio," Springfield Mayor Rob Rue told MSNBC's "Katy Tur Reports" on Friday.
"We've made that known publicly, and we're asking people to understand and believe the reports that we're sharing with them."
The mayor pleaded for the misinformation to stop.
"We need those that have a national stage that have a mic, with millions and millions (of followers), we need them to understand what their words are doing to cities like Springfield, Ohio," Rue said. "What we need is help. We don't need this misinformation."
A spokesman for Vance, who grew up about 50 miles from Springfield in Middletown, said the senator "condemns these threats and believes those responsible should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
The vice presidential hopeful has also said there's been a “massive rise in communicable diseases” in Springfield, but Clark County Combined Health District Commissioner Chris Cook said Friday that's not accurate.
“Overall, we have not seen a substantial increase in all reportable communicable diseases," Cook said. "In fact, if you look at all reportable communicable diseases together (minus COVID) for the year ending 2023 you will see that we are at our lowest rate in Clark County since 2016.”
Alicia Victoria Lozano reported from Springfield, Ohio, and David K. Li reported from New York City.
