SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Young children bolted from a playground during recess at Crissey Elementary School in Springfield Township last month after hearing the sound of gunfire from a neighbor using a gun legally in his backyard.
The children were not being targeted and residents are allowed to discharge firearms on private property in Ohio townships, but parents at the school still have questions that 11 Investigates fielded.
“I definitely don't see why he just wouldn't be able to do it not during school hours,” Kelsey Hammit, who has two children attending the school said.
The school teaches pre-K through the third grade.
In surveillance video provided to WTOL 11 by Springfield Local Schools, multiple children are seen running from the playground in the moments after hearing gunfire. School officials rush the students into single-file lines. It’s their gunfire routine and Superintendent Matt Geha said the same scenario played out the previous school year on Nov. 9, 2023.
“We do have concerns from parents and kids that they don't feel safe when they hear that noise,” Geha said. “We bring the kids in off the playground and the principal sends a letter home to let them know that that day we heard it, we pulled the kids in.”
Laws in Ohio townships
Geha said the complaints rolled into his office after the incident in 2023. He drafted a letter to parents that read in part:
"There is a neighbor(s) close to the school, that at times, will target shoot in their own backyard during the school day ... This does not violate Ohio Law because it is located in a Township."
“I'm so torn,” Andrea Smith, a Springfield Township resident with a child at Crissey Elementary said. "I'm so split because in this day and age, you don't want your children to hear that noise, especially related to school. However, as a resident, I have to respect the rights of other people."
Many townships in Ohio are almost entirely rural. Residents don’t usually live as close to school grounds. According to the township administrator, Michael Hampton, Springfield Township is unique and that can create conflict.
“It is that it is the fall season. Hunting season is around the corner. We do have portions of our townships that are wooded areas where they're allowed to hunt,” Hampton said. “These hunters before they go out, they like to sight in their weapons and they'll do that on their own property if they are able to."
Change would start in Columbus
If there is a change to the laws governing townships in Ohio, it needs to happen first in Columbus. The state legislature could restrict gunfire based on population density or proximity to a school.
Heidi Fought, executive director of the Ohio Township Association, said she supports a potential change.
“I've been with the Ohio Township Association for over 24 years and over those 24 years, we routinely receive phone calls from township officials or township residents,” she said.
In one example, golfers at the Avalon Country Club in northeast Ohio had to scatter in 2019 when a man began target shooting with his grandchildren on private property in Howland Township.
The man had set up a backstop for the target consisting of newspapers. It was pointed toward the golf course. Golfers on the sixth hole reported bullets hitting around their feet and hitting nearby trees. The man was educated on gun safety.
“The Ohio Revised Code is what governs townships in the state of Ohio. Townships don't have home rule authority like cities or villages do,” Fought said. “So all of our authority must come from the Ohio Revised Code and we must have explicit authority to regulate the discharge of firearms."
What local lawmakers think
11 Investigates reached out to every state representative in northwest Ohio to ask if each would support a change in outdoor gun use in the Ohio Revised Code, such as no shooting near schools during a specific time. For example, when kids are on the playground.
State Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery) was the only lawmaker to go on record.
"I would be open to conversations on this topic. As always, the devil is in the details," Click said. "At first glance, however, these appear to be legitimate concerns.”
Springfield Township officials told us that the township sent letters to the residents accused of target shooting near Crissey Elementary during school hours.
It's legal to shoot a gun within township limits on private property, but the letter said anyone warned about target shooting during school hours could be charged with inciting panic if they continue.