One day after a police department in Ohio had two of its officers shot and killed in the line of duty, Westerville Police Chief Joe Morbitzer said on Sunday the department has received a number of threats.
On Saturday, Officers Anthony Morelli and Eric Joering were killed while responding to a 911 call. As news spread, so did the phone calls into the Westerville Police Department.
"We have people calling our radio room screaming threats, obscenities and vulgarities at our radio techs," Morbitzer said at a press conference on Sunday. "And quite frankly, there is a special place in Hell for those people, and my wish is it comes very soon."
Morbitzer added that his department has seen a number of fake online fundraisers in the two fallen officers' name.
"We should be honoring these two officers, not illicitly trying to profit off their deaths," Morbitzer said. "We have seen fake GoFundMe pages established already."
The City of Westerville said there is an official online fundraiser being organized through the Fraternal Order of Police via GoFundMe. That fundraiser has netted $186,000 as of Sunday afternoon.
Morbitzer said that funeral plans for the two officers have not been finalized. In the meantime, officers from surrounding jurisdictions are patrolling the city to give all Westerville officers an opportunity to grieve.
