Two elementary schools were evacuated, and a middle school was closed Friday morning in the Ohio city of Springfield − the target of false election-year rumors about Haitian migrants − "based on information received from the Springfield Police Division," school officials said.
Springfield, located north of Dayton, vaulted to national prominence after former President Donald Trump announced during Tuesday's presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris that, "In Springfield they are eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there."
The claim has led to threatening calls and bomb threats.
Perrin Woods Elementary School and Snowhill Elementary School students were evacuated from their buildings Friday morning and moved to an "alternate district location," according to a school district news release. The district is currently dismissing students to their parents.
