ST. LOUIS — Police on Thursday said they found no credibility to online threats made against the head of the city’s emergency management office, who was placed on leave after a siren system failure before last week’s deadly tornado.
The death threats were discussed Wednesday morning, just hours after Sarah Russell was placed on administrative leave.
On Thursday, police said detectives had interviewed Russell and determined there had been no direct or credible threats made against the commissioner, St. Louis police spokesman Mitch McCoy said.
"We will continue to monitor and evaluate," he said.Â
In a release late Tuesday, St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said Russell and other City Emergency Management Agency staffers were not at their office, where a button to activate sirens is located — even though strong storms were forecasted. Russell, the release said, called the Fire Department to sound the sirens, but there was a breakdown in communication.
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The tornado ripped through north St. Louis on Friday afternoon, damaging thousands of houses and killing five people in the city.
St. Louis police Chief Robert Tracy confirmed the threats against Russell during Wednesday's press conference, saying the department’s intelligence unit was looking into them.
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer and Police Chief Robert Tracy respond to reported death threats against the City Emergency Management Agency director.
