Ohio school in football rape case adds guards

Mike McVey, the superintendent of Steubenville City Schools, said a guard will remain outside each of the district's four buildings until further notice. McVey told The Associated Press in an interview that the move was made "to improve the safety of our students."

Two 16-year-old boys are set for trial next month in juvenile court in Steubenville, a city of about 18,000, on charges they raped a 16-year-old girl in August. Attorneys for defendants Ma'Lik Richmond and Trent Mays have denied the charges in court.

McVey said the decision to add guards to the school buildings came Monday, before the district was placed on lockdown Tuesday morning because of a possible threat. Teachers stopped instruction and locked their classroom doors for about 1 ½ hours while police determined the threat wasn't viable.

According to a police report, a student described seeing a Facebook post indicating a potential threat, but the post couldn't be retrieved. The post referenced people not charged in the rape case and directed them to come to a certain location, or "I am going to start killing people," the report said.

McVey said instruction resumed after the district was given the all-clear at 9:46 a.m. Some parents chose to take their children home for the remainder of the day, he said.

The district serves about 2,450 students. McVey wouldn't say how many students went home.

A Jefferson Security Services pickup truck periodically circled the high school Tuesday afternoon.

Social media and the Internet are playing a crucial role in the case. Hackers last week released a video, more than 12 minutes long, which purportedly shows one young man joking about the accuser following the alleged rape. The hackers who released the video allege more people were involved and should be held accountable. On Monday, an attorney said the young man regretted the comments, made when he was intoxicated.