Reported Threats Against Black People Being Taken Seriously: Cops

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OHIO — Police in Cleveland Heights are attempting to locate a person who said he heard a man say that he wanted to kill Black people in a social media post after the same man was seen walking around Cleveland Heights with a rifle slung over his shoulder Saturday afternoon.

A Cleveland Heights spokeswoman told Patch Monday morning that police were notified of the social media post involving the threats that Cleveland Heights Police Chief Annette Mecklenburg said the department takes “very seriously". On 4:30 p.m. Saturday, police went to the 3500 block of Blanche Ave., after being called because residents saw a man carrying the rifle. Officers spoke to the man and determined he had not broken any laws and was permitted by law to be carrying the firearm.

After speaking with witnesses, police determined the man had not made any threats to anyone and had not pointed the rifle at anyone, the city spokeswoman said Monday. However, since the social media was reported to police, Mecklenburg has increased patrols in the area where the man was seen as well as in other parts of the city, Mecklenburg said.

As of Monday afternoon, Mecklenburg said that no witnesses have come forward with any first-hand evidence to suggest that the man had made any racial threats against anyone.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Cleveland Heights Police Department's detective bureau at (216) 291-3883.