Hoax 911 shooting call shut down 3 Wake schools. Two students are in serious trouble.
Criminal charges have been filed against two Wakefield High school students accused of making a hoax 911 call about a shooting on campus that led to a lockdown last week.
Juvenile petitions were filed against two students for making a false report concerning mass violence on educational property, according to Laura Hourigan, a Raleigh police spokeswoman. No other information was provided about the students.
Wakefield High, Wakefield Middle and Wakefield Elementary schools, which all share the same campus, were put on a code red lockdown on Dec. 5 after a 911 caller said he heard gunshots at the high school and saw people who had been shot.
On the 911 call, the caller told the dispatcher that there was a shooting at the football field and that the caller was scared. The caller repeatedly says, “He’s shooting” and “They’re shooting” in a breathless voice and “Some dude is laying on the ground, he’s not moving.”
Raleigh police officers were dispatched to the campus, and students were frantically contacting their parents as they hid in fear.
But Raleigh police determined the call was false and that no shots had been fired. In a Dec. 5 message to families, Wakefield High Principal Malik Bazzell said an investigation determined that students were responsible for the call, which he said was meant “to disrupt our campus.”
Bazzell told parents that criminal charges would be filed and that “appropriate disciplinary action” would be taken. He said that disciplinary action could include long-term suspension from school, which would last for more than 10 days of classes.
Threats have soared since the mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in February 2018. Several Wake schools have been put on lockdown due to the hoax threats.
At an August 2018 news conference, the FBI, Wake County law enforcement agencies and school officials warned that people who make hoax threats against schools will be arrested and prosecuted.
This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 2:57 PM.
