Climax-Scotts sixth area district affected by threats

CLIMAX — School officials ended classes for the day after a bomb threat Monday at Climax-Scotts Junior-Senior High School .

The Kalamazoo County Sheriff Department said  a written threat was found at 10 a.m. in a bathroom at the junior-senior high school at 372 S. Main St. in Climax. The note said a bomb was set to go off in the afternoon.

Deputies said school staff called 911 and officers searched the school but didn't find anything suspicious. However school was cancelled  for the rest of the day as a precaution.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office at 269-383-8748 or Silent Observer at 269-343-2100. Reports also may be made online at www.kalamazoosilentobserver.com.

The threat came a month after several violence threats against Calhoun County schools.

The most recent, on March 31, caused a brief lockdown at Pennfield Schools after the Calhoun County Sheriff Department was notified that a Pennfield eighth-grade student, who was not at school, made what was considered a threat over social media. Sheriff Matt Saxton said the student posted a picture of an assault rifle on Instagram and wrote that his mother made him stop playing a video game. Then he wrote, "I will just play Call of Duty at school." The student said the threat was just a joke.

His case is pending.

On March 30, two Marshall High School 16-year-olds, Marcus Ortwine of Albion and Glenn Deuster of Fredonia Township, allegedly made threats against their school on Instagram. The boys are charged with making a false report or threat of terrorism and using the internet to commit terrorism after prosecutors said they threatened students and staff at the school. Each was pictured holding a firearm, Marshall Police Chief Jim Schwartz said.

Charges against those two students are pending in the Juvenile Division of Calhoun County Family Court.

All Lakeview School District buildings were closed March 28 after the threats to detonate bombs and shoot students and staff was posted the night before on the Facebook page of a 12-year-old Battle Creek girl. That investigation continues.

The same day, a bomb threat at Harper Creek High School ended the school day early for the entire Harper Creek Community Schools district. A 16-year-old girl is alleged to have written a note found in a high school bathroom claiming a bomb would be set off at 2:50 p.m. and authorities would never find it.

She also faces charges in juvenile court.

In Galesburg, a 14-year-old boy was identified as responsible for a March 24 bomb threat at Galesburg-Augusta High School. That case was referred to the Kalamazoo County prosecutor.