Teen charged after MySpace murder threats

Ian M. Blair, 17, of Dover has been charged with threatening to kill students and at least one teacher at Dover High School.

Blair is being held in the Multi-County Juvenile Attention Center at New Philadelphia pending an arraignment Oct. 16 on three misdemeanor charges filed Tuesday - two counts of juvenile delinquency by reason of disorderly conduct and one count of juvenile delinquency by reason of telecommunications harassment.

Blair appeared Tuesday in Tuscarawas County Juvenile Court for a brief detention hearing stemming from his arrest Friday. Dover police had been called by school officials, who learned from another student that Blair planned to kill people at school, including a female teacher he'd had problems with in the past.

"Ian Blair had spoken to him and said he would be spared when Ian came back and started killing people," said Assistant Prosecutor Michael Ernest. "(Authorities) had the belief that these were real threats that were going to be carried out by Ian Blair."

The student also described a MySpace page allegedly created by Blair that features pictures of Blair holding a variety of guns in numerous poses. Ernest said police found the weapons locked in a case in Blair's home and seized them. Blair admitted having picked the lock to gain access to the guns.

According to police, the Web page lists Blair's blog topics, which include "(the teacher's last name) takes one to the head" and "fruit loops drenched in your blood." He listed Adolf Hitler as his hero.

Blair told police the whole thing was just a joke relating to a recent college campus shooting. However, he did admit it could be seen as a threat and as inappropriate.

Ernest said Blair attends one morning class at Dover High and then attends post-secondary classes at the Tuscarawas Campus of Kent State University at New Philadelphia. He noted Blair has had other scrapes with the law, including juvenile court cases for charges of unruliness, assault, theft and a probation violation.

Defense attorney Erick Bauer dismissed the allegations against Blair as "an active imagination." He urged Magistrate Joy Reed to release Blair and allow him to return to school.

"He goes to Dover High for one period in the morning," Bauer said. "He could take that class independently and remove himself from the school setting. We don't believe he's any threat."

Reed remanded Blair back to detention.

"This is a gravely serious situation," Reed said. "I will return him to the attention center. For everyone's safety that is imperative. I hope the officials at Kent State University are aware. This kind of anger and threat is not limited to high school anymore. Everyone is at risk."

Times Reporter