6 hours Ago By Jen Garofalo
A Greene County man was arrested after allegedly making a series of death threats, including one that sparked a school lockdown earlier this month. Joseph Miller, 26, of Sycamore, is charged with making threats against the mother of his child, the school the child attends and the Greene County 911 center over a three-day period. The lockdown occurred April 2 at Intermediate Unit 1 in Waynesburg, after Miller had threatened to “shoot this place up,” according to the criminal complaint.
“With knowledge of Miller being unstable and a prior history of issues, school staff and executives were forced out of their extreme concern and desire to keep everyone safe to fully lockdown the Intermediate Unit as Miller briefly retreated toward his vehicle,” state police Trooper Benjamin Sterling wrote in his affidavit. Students were moved to the back of the building, disrupting all school functions, the affidavit said. Once the situation was clear, staff modified school dismissal as they tried to return to normal, the affidavit said.
Miller had arrived at the school after the child’s mother had come to pick up her son after a disciplinary issue, police said. While claiming to be there to pick up his son, he said he’d already known the mother was going to be there, according to the affidavit. As Miller was being denied entry at the door, he also exposed his genitalia to staff and security members, according to court records.
He also allegedly accosted the security guard and threatened to “shoot up this place” if the guard didn’t get his son. Then, according to the affidavit, told the guard he would “slit his throat,” also using racial slurs. Miller, in what the affidavit called “an agitated manner,” shouted at responding troopers while videotaping the event.
He was served with a trespass order from the district on April 3, the affidavit said. At 11:04 a.m.
that day, court records indicate, he called the school to threaten the principal. When his child’s mother was back at the school on April 4 dealing with issues involving their son, Miller allegedly texted her threats, the affidavit stated. He is also accused of making threats during one of multiple calls court documents say he made the same day to the Greene County 911 Center.
During one of the calls, Miller allegedly told a dispatcher, “I wasn’t going to shoot you, but now I am going to.” Miller is charged with three counts of terroristic threats, two counts of disorderly conduct and one count each of harassment, open lewdness and improper communications with 911. He is in Greene County jail on $50,000 bond.
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