By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer

Richmond, Ind. Police believe the swatter who called in a bomb threat that evacuated Richmond’s Walmart July 19 is the same individual who, beginning June 24, placed multiple swatting calls claiming to hold Jewish hostages in Richmond, that he was armed with firearms and explosives, and had already killed a hostage.

“We do believe it is the same person and are working both incidents as the same suspect,” Richmond Police Maj. Adam Blanton told The Observer via email Aug. 25.

In a July 19 press release, the police stated that the store was evacuated in accordance with Walmart’s policy while officers secured the area. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and Indiana State Police also responded to the threat.

“This threat appears to be connected to a series of false emergency calls made by the same individual, who has already caused significant disruptions and unnecessary law enforcement responses recently,” the release said.

It added that during the Walmart swatting call, the suspect told a dispatcher that he wants Richmond Police Chief Kyle Weatherly to say he’s sorry for “talking s—” about him.

“I won’t be offering an apology,” Weatherly is quoted as saying in the release. “But I would be happy to offer a set of handcuffs and I hope I’m the one who gets to put them on him/her.”

Blanton said Wayne County emergency dispatch has received more than a dozen additional swatting calls from the individual who placed the first antisemitic swatting call June 24.

“Essentially, he had made reference to the same thing, the exact same rhetoric: ‘I have hostages, I’m upset with Jewish people.’ And the same rhetoric based on his girlfriend leaving him for a Jewish individual.”

According to Blanton, on additional swatting calls through mid-July, the caller said he was holding Jewish hostages at the 700 block of East Main Street, as he did on the June 24 call.

One of those additional calls, Blanton said, was made from the McDonald’s at 1725 E. Main St. in Richmond.

On another call, Blanton said, the swatter claimed “he was at the chief of police’s home address and was going to kill the chief of police” because the chief supported and protected those of the Jewish faith.

Blanton added that working with the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Richmond Police Department has developed a “promising lead.”

In a July 19 post to its Facebook page, Richmond Police noted obstacles in the way of finding the suspect.

“Today’s technology allows individuals to mask, reroute, and encrypt their calls in ways that make identification incredibly difficult,” the statement read.

Blanton said the suspect has made a few more calls to emergency dispatch since the July 19 Walmart incident, but the department hasn’t heard from him since mid-August.

“Generally speaking, yes, they are swatting in nature,” Blanton said of the calls, though he added the degree of antisemitism appeared to be less of a topic for the suspect.

“Sometimes they are just incoherent, obscenity-laced tirades.”

To read the complete September 2025 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.