A capturing scare at a central Florida highschool was a “cruel prank” carried out by two teams of students who now face criminal fees and potential expulsion, police mentioned.
Rumors, lies and conspiracy theories have been “floating around” on social media since Friday’s lockdown at Mainland High School, Daytona Beach police mentioned Sunday in a lengthy Facebook post.
“This entire incident appears to have been a cruel prank by several students that has now gotten out of control due to internet trolls, misinformed people and in some cases, people that are not even in Florida,” police mentioned.
Investigators mentioned officers at the college turned conscious Thursday of a menace written on a rest room stall. School officers and legislation enforcement reviewed video and interviewed two students who had entered the lavatory across the time the graffiti was found.
The students denied involvement and it was decided that no menace existed, police mentioned.
On Friday, two teams of students in the cafeteria “decided to capitalize on the threat” and “appear to collaborate with each other to create a panic,” police mentioned.
They have been seen on video “getting into specific positions and locations within the cafeteria, timing their actions” and several other feminine students advised an administrator somebody had a gun.
At the identical time, a male scholar ran from the constructing “causing a large crowd to follow him.”
Video confirmed that nobody appeared to have a gun at any time, police mentioned.
“Video of these individuals prior to and during the incident shows that neither the male nor the female students observed a gun or flinched as you would expect when shots had just been fired,” police said. “At no time in the video, does anyone stand on a table and present a gun, or fire shots as some people have posted.”
Detectives have recognized students concerned in the incident and interviewed most of them. Stories have modified from seeing somebody with a gun to “they just heard there was one,” the report mentioned.
The company deliberate to have an additional presence on campus Monday to “ensure that everything goes smoothly.”
Second-degree felony fees for making a false report regarding the usage of firearms in a violent method are pending for these concerned, the assertion mentioned. Detectives are additionally recommending that everybody concerned be expelled from faculty.
Meanwhile, CBS affiliate WKMG-TV reported Monday that a menace posted on social media towards Lyman High School in Longwood — about 45 miles away — was deemed noncredible by faculty officers. Still, officers mentioned safety can be heightened at the college on Monday.
“While the threat was deemed to be noncredible, the intent to disrupt the campus is unacceptable. Appropriate disciplinary and legal action will be applied,” Seminole County Public Schools mentioned in a message to folks and members of the family.
story by The Texas Tribune Source link