DURHAM, N.C. — Firefighters and police swarmed to Hillside High School in Durham on Thursday morning in response to the report of an active shooter. That threat was quickly determined to be a hoax.
Hillside’s campus, located at 3727 Fayetteville Road, was placed on a lockdown before 10 a.m. A spokesperson from Durham Public Schools confirmed there was no threat to the school, and a hoax was to blame.
According to the Durham Police Department, there was no active shooter or gun found on campus.
From east in little Washington to west in Brevard County, North Carolina schools were targeted by false threats and deceptive calls on Thursday, including:
- In Fayetteville, when someone called 911 reporting students had been shot at Jack Britt High School on Rockfish Road. That report was also false, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.
- Leesville Road Middle School in Raleigh was also on lockdown Thursday for about 10 minutes after a prank call that police received.
- In Charlotte, local media reported prank calls to four schools: Olympic High School, Mallard Creek High School, West Charlotte High School, and Northwest School of the Arts.
- The Bladen County Sheriff’s Office investigated a report of an active shooter at East Bladen High School.
- The Elizabeth City Police Department said threats were made Northeastern High School via an anonymous text.
- The Burlington Police Department responded to an incident at Williams High School. The school is currently on lockdown.
- WECT News reported New Hanover High School in Wilmington was also the victim of a hoax.
- WXII reported lockdowns at Wilkes Central and Williams high schools.
A spokesperson from New Hanover said similar pranks calls have been placed at schools and government buildings across the country this week.
“When the call came in this morning, the high school was immediately put on lockdown while SWAT teams and law enforcement searched the school. Ultimately they deemed the threat was not credible, and everything is back to normal,” the spokesperson said.
A mother whose children attend Hillside said she heard a Vance County high school was also on lockdown Thursday morning.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said several schools in his state were also targeted by a hoax and false reports about an active shooter on Wednesday.
• Credits
Copyright 2022 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.