Multiple lockdowns caused by threatening calls

Christy Bailey, The News Courier, Athens, Ala.
·3 min read

Dec. 13—Several school systems throughout North Alabama and other parts of the state received reports of possible shootings Tuesday morning. The calls have since been ruled to be hoaxes. The calls were made to Lauderdale County Schools, Morgan County Schools, Huntsville City Schools, Russellville City Schools, Alexander City City Schools, and Troy City Schools.

Lauderdale County Wilson High School

Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office received a report around 8:30 Tuesday morning of an individual being shot at Wilson High School. The report was determined to be a hoax and is currently under investigation by the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office.

The Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office shared the following information.

—The Sheriff's Office received the call at 8:33 a.m.

—The call specified someone had been shot in "Geography" class.

—The SRO Deputy arrived at the classroom within 20 seconds of being notified.

—The first back up patrol units began arriving within three minutes of the initial call.

—A massive multi-agency law enforcement response was generated with approximately 50-60 officers on scene.

—After the initial sweep of the elementary and high school, deputies and officers went door to door checking classrooms.

—School safety measures and lockdown procedures worked very well.

Lauderdale County Schools issued the following statement during the lockdown.

"Between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. a call was made to the Florence Police Department in regards to a possible shooting on the campus of Wilson High School. The Lauderdale County Board of Education, Wilson High School, the Lauderdale County Sheriffs, and Florence Police Department executed lockdown procedures immediately."

After law enforcement gave the all clear, parents were able to check their students out of school for the day if they wanted.

Morgan County Schools West Morgan High School

According to Morgan County Sheriff's Office, a "false shooting call" was received Tuesday morning. The call was made from an Ohio area code.

"At West Morgan, SROs were in the building and quickly determined it was false. The school was placed in a secure perimeter while Trinity Police Department responded and checked the campus."

Huntsville City Schools Mae Jemison High School

Law enforcement responded to reports of a possible shooting. Huntsville Police Department found no shooter or victims.

Huntsville City Schools released the following statement to concerned parents and family.

"Dear Jemison/McNair families and staff members, out of an abundance of caution, the Jemison/McNair campus has been placed on lockdown. While there do not appear to be any credible reports of any incidents at this time, there is a prominent police presence on campus. Normal operations will resume as quickly as possible. We ask families and visitors to avoid coming to campus at this time. Only authorized staff and law enforcement will be allowed access to our building."

Responses from around the state

The same pattern played out in threats made in Russellville, Alexander City, and Troy. Although the Madison County School System did not receive a threat, they chose to issue a statement.

"Dear MCS Family,

As you are probably aware, Huntsville City Schools, Morgan County Schools, and Jackson County Schools all received prank calls today (Tuesday, Dec. 13) alerting them to an 'active shooter' on their campuses. Based on the information we have obtained, there was no active threat in these districts. This appears to be someone trying to cause alarm."

John Carroll High School in Jefferson County and Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa County also received hoax calls today that law enforcement answered.