Three schools go on lockdown — because of a couple’s gender reveal, Tennessee cops say
A 911 caller reported hearing gunshots and a scream, forcing three Tennessee schools to go on lockdown.
And it was all because of a couple’s gender reveal, the Murfreesboro Police Department said in a news release.
Upon learning they were having a boy, the dad-to-be fired “celebratory rounds” into the air, and the mom “screamed out of excitement” at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, police wrote in a Twitter post.
A neighbor who heard the noises on Oak Hill Drive called 911, and officers put John Pittard Elementary and Oakland middle and high schools on lockdown out of caution, WKRN reported. The schools are roughly 35 miles southeast of Nashville.
Officers discovered it wasn’t an active shooter but instead a couple making a phone call to share their baby news with out-of-town relatives, according to police. The expectant dad, whose name wasn’t listed in a news release, later faced a charge of “unlawful discharging of a weapon within city limits,” a misdemeanor, the Murfreesboro Post reported.
During a gender reveal, parents-to-be typically gather with loved ones to find out whether they’re having a boy or a girl. The trend has been growing in popularity, sometimes with disastrous effects.
In February, officials said an expectant dad was killed when a device he was making for a gender reveal exploded. And last year, a “pyrotechnic device” that went off during a similar event set off a California blaze that scorched thousands of acres, McClatchy News reported.
As the fire raged on, a woman who has credited herself with making gender reveals popular urged people to stop doing them. She had previously said she had regrets because the parties “overemphasize one aspect of a person,” McClatchy News reported.
The Murfreesboro Police Department didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for additional information about the recent Tennessee gender reveal on Friday.
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Three schools go on lockdown — because of a couple’s gender reveal, Tennessee cops say."
