According to Toledoblade
A post on social media spread like wildfire, causing the circulation of false information of a “purge” happening across the city as Toledo police responded to various reports of shootings and violent incidents.
Around midnight Monday, more than 5,000 people were tuned into Toledo Police Department’s central channel to listen to the activity — making it a top scanner feed on many police scanner applications. More took to social media claiming a ‘purge,’ referring to the abrupt and violent removal of people, was happening after a woman warned the community not go to outside from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m.
While Toledo police did respond to various shootings on Monday, there was nothing to suggest they were connected or that a so-called ‘purge’ was occurring, said Sgt. Mike Kurjan, a Toledo Police Department spokesman.
think the thing seemed more overwhelming than traditionally because of the social media rumors. I think a lot of that is kind of putting a magnifying glass on this and those rumors are propagating that it was this so-called ‘purge.’ There’s no indication that any of those incidents were at all related,” Sergeant Kurjan said.
“We can safely say that in three out of the five shooting incidents that were reported [on Monday,] the victim and suspects knew each other. Hopefully this calms the fear of the public knowing that there is absolutely no indication that any of these incidents were connected.”
Toledoans caught wind of warnings coming from a woman named Katrina Furr, who identifies as a self-employed contractor available for spirit cleansing and in-depth readings.
Around 5:10 p.m. Monday, Ms. Furr publicly posted on Facebook that Toledoans were in danger — “especially those ages 24 and younger,” she wrote. Over the past several days, Ms. Furr made references to a “female demon” on the loose.
Ms. Furr’s post has gained more than 6,000 shares and nearly 1,000 comments.
The Blade attempted to contact Ms. Furr regarding her social media post, and police will be reviewing it to determine if any charges are warranted.
Adding fuel to the fire, “Toledo” was trending on Twitter on Tuesday as users discussed and shared a graphic video of a shooting near a basketball court at Winterfield Park in the 4500 block of Hill Avenue around 4:45 p.m. Monday.