The Damage Done By Bomb Threats

MARIETTA, OH — In May, there were a number of bomb threats called in to area schools. Some of the schools that were affected around Washington County include Marietta Middle School, St. Mary's Catholic Elementary School, Belpre Elementary School, Beverly Elementary School, Waterford High School, Waterford Elementary School, and Fort Frye High School. These threats were all made between May 6, 2021, and May 11, 2021.

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Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hall of Georgia has been arrested and was extradited here. He's behind bars at the Washington County Jail waiting to be evaluated mentally. His lawyer contends that he wasn't mentally competent in the first place to waive his Miranda rights or confess in any capacity. But whether he was the caller or not is one issue. The fact is that someone did make these calls, and hundreds of children were affected.

Ariel Dair is a Victim's Advocate for the Washington County Prosecutor's Office, she spoke with a number of children affected by the threats. She says the fact that bomb threats rolled in day after day was really traumatic for everyone. "I mean I've been told by parents, teachers, and children that they will hear an ambulance roll by and think it's all starting over again. Like they're afraid of it."

She said while this affected everyone at the schools, the younger children have been most affected by it. "The high school kids were still affected, don't get me wrong. But the younger kids didn't understand, they've never had to deal with this." She said the fact that there were multiple threats was really bad for them. "Some are losing sleep, some are afraid to leave their parents' sides, some are crying, some are completely distraught."

Dair is a parent and said working in the prosecutor's office, with the knowledge she had, she still cried for her son when his school was called. "It was really traumatic for me, knowing my son was there. And what fear did he have? I knew he was safe, but I couldn't get to him."

She says she thinks this is something these kids are going to live with for the rest of their lives. "I remember when I was in school and we had bomb threats or something called. I still remember how scared I was then. I can't imagine having multiple calls called in."

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