Police officials and school leaders are commending a parent who notified authorities after a South Toledo man made a threat on social media to “shoot up” Waite High School.
That parent — Richard Deluca — says his two children are the real heroes.
“I wouldn’t have known if they didn’t tell me. That comes from me and their mother being there for the kids. We keep an open line of communication,” said Mr. Deluca, 37.
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Christian Costet, 20, of the 600 block of Congress Avenue, was arrested Monday at his home by Toledo Police Special Weapons and Tactics. He is accused of threatening violence at the school, police said.
Mr. Deluca’s two children alerted their father of a photo and then a video.
In a video, Mr. Costet called himself a “school shooter,” and indicated Waite High School would be “hit up” Tuesday morning, according to an affidavit filed in Toledo Municipal Court. Mr. Costet video taped a friend holding an assault rifle.
A replica rifle with which Mr. Costet was pictured online was found in an abandoned home on Clark Street, police said.
Mr. Deluca reported the incident to police about noon Monday. His children were also interviewed, noting officers helped make the teenagers feel comfortable, even as the SWAT team geared up.
“The point I was trying to get through to my kids ... if you see something, say something. That’s the big thing I was driving home to my kids — doing the right thing,” Mr. Deluca said. “I think they learned that.”
Bond for Christian Costet set at $50,000 for inducing panic after threat made against Waite HS. Judge Khoury said, “I take this pretty seriously,” given last week’s events pic.twitter.com/1OH77HaAIM
— Allison Reamer (@AllisonRBlade) February 20, 2018
Police said they did not know a motive for the threat.
Mr. Costet was arraigned Tuesday before Toledo Municipal Court Judge Nicole Khoury. Bond was set at $50,000. Mr. Costet was also ordered to have no contact with the school.
Given last week’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., which left 17 people dead, Judge Khoury said, “I take this pretty seriously.”
Public defender James MacHarg requested his client be released from the Lucas County jail, where he is being held.
“I’m aware of the severity of the charge given the atmosphere in the United States, but still he has no record,” the attorney said.
Mr. Costet was not a student or previous student at Waite High School, Toledo Public Schools spokesman Patty Mazur said Tuesday. According to records, he attended a charter school for a short time.
Ms. Mazur said school was not in session Monday because of the Presidents Day holiday, but the administration was notified about the situation and assisted investigators.
Following an incident, the administration will evaluate current procedures, as well as remind students and parents to report anything they see out of the ordinary.
“Parents should really have a conversation with their children. This is serious,” Police Sgt. Kevan Toney said. “Kids are hurting in Florida and this is nothing to mess around or joke with.”
Sergeant Toney said all threats — such as a recent threat against students at St. John’s Jesuit High School and Academy, later linked to a threat at Maumee High School on the same day — are taken seriously.
“We take these threats very seriously and swift action is taken to follow up,” Sergeant Toney said.
“The Toledo Police Department will not tolerate any threats to the safety of our citizens,” Police Chief George Kral said in a prepared statement. “There is no such thing as, ‘This was just a joke.’ With mass shooting incidents increasing exponentially in our country, we will investigate and prosecute every threat to the full extent of the law.”
There is no such thing as "this was just a joke" anymore. https://t.co/4C0geI5IzS
— Chief George Kral (@gkraltoledo) February 19, 2018
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force participated in the whirlwind investigation, the police statement said.
While inducing panic often is a lesser offense, Ohio law provides in cases involving threats against schools or institutions of higher learning for it to be a second-degree felony.
Waite High School was in session Tuesday, though extra officers were on the high school’s campus, Ms. Mazur said.
Mr. Costet will appear in court for a preliminary hearing Feb. 27.
Contact Allison Reamer at areamer@theblade.com, 419-724-6506 or on Twitter @AllisonRBlade.
First Published February 19, 2018, 11:41 p.m.
