Shootings in American schools are one of the biggest concerns for the country’s authorities, therefore, when the alert is issued about a situation like that, all protocols are initiated to avoid a tragedy.
However, There are times when reports turn out to be false, and may even be a terrible joke.as happened recently at the Horizon Academy school, located in the city of Ocala, Florida.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office received a call last Tuesday morning in which a child said there was an active shooter at school, prompting law enforcement, NBC News reported.
The presence of several agents generated alarm among the student community and, after a search of the place, The authorities determined that there were “no armed assailants, weapons or injuries.”The sheriff’s office said on its Facebook page.
An investigation later revealed that a student had allegedly made the call because he “wanted to go home early.”
“This student instilled fear in his classmates, staff and parents”Sheriff Billy Woods said in a statement. “So that? A joke? Why did you want to come home? “I will not tolerate my young citizens being afraid to go to school because you wanted to be a ‘joker’ in the hope of returning home,” he stated.
In audio of the 911 call released by the sheriff’s office, the boy tells the operator: “Help me. “There is a shooter walking down the hallway.”. Later he mentions the name of the school and says it is in “building two.”
When the operator tried to get more information, the minor said, “It’s coming. It’s coming,” and then the call hangs up.
He used a friend’s phone to call 911
The sheriff’s office sent all available deputies to the school. When they arrived, the school resource officer had not heard anything about a shooter being in the building, “but, as a precaution, the school was placed on lockdown,” according to authorities.
“Marion County deputies, detectives, SWAT and K-9 responded. Officers from the Ocala Police Department, Florida Highway Patrol and other state and federal law enforcement agencies also did so,” the sheriff’s office said. “A full search of the school was conducted, which concluded that there were no armed assailants, no weapons, and no injured students or staff.”
During the search, all school functions were stopped and students and staff were visibly frightened, according to the agency.
The authorities said that the boy had told a friend that he wanted to go home earlyand when his partner walked away and left his cell phone unattended, the 11-year-old used it to call 911.
For this fact, he was arrested on charges of making a false report of a mass shooting, using a two-way communication device to facilitate a serious crime, disrupting a school function and misusing the 911 emergency system, the county Sheriff’s Office said. of Marion.
Under the law, a person who makes a false report must pay restitution for the cost of the authorities’ response.
“In this case, it will amount to hundreds and hundreds of hours of work. “This young man is going to need to mow a lot of grass to pay that bill,” the sheriff said.
Keep reading:
– Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison for the 2021 mass shooting at a Michigan school.
– Suspect in the shooting at the University of Nevada, in Las Vegas, had more than 150 cartridges: Police.