Student faces possible jail time for making false report about shooting threat, police say

A student who falsely reported a shooting threat at a Cedar Park high school to help her friend skip classes faces up to two years in jail, an arrest affidavit said.

Abbygale Harris, 17, of Leander, was charged with making a false alarm or report. The charge is a state jail felony. Her attorney, Heather Parmer, declined to comment Tuesday about the case.

Harris and another student told a school resource officer at Vista Ridge High School on Sept. 20 that they had received an anonymous message on Snapchat from a person who planned to commit a shooting at the school, the affidavit said. The school at 200 S. Vista Ridge Blvd. in Cedar Park is part of the Leander school district.

After the students told the officer about the threat, they received a second anonymous message in which the sender threatened to "shoot up the school at approximately 3:00...," the affidavit said. The message also said the sender knew that the students had reported the first threat to the school administration, the document said.

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The Leander school district security director then told police that Harris had in the past made false reports of immediate threats to schools, the affidavit said.

Harris told detectives who came to the school to interview her that a friend who wanted to skip school sent her the first threatening message, according to the affidavit.

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It said Harris told police she sent herself the second message "to cause more alarm to help her friend." The friend's name was not included in the affidavit.

Harris said she also sent the threats to the other student who also reported the threats to the school resource officer. The other student has not been charged, according to court records.

Making a false report or alarm is a Class A misdemeanor which is punishable by up to a year in jail or a fine up to $4,000, according to the Texas Penal Code. But the charge becomes a state jail felony if the false report is of an emergency involving a public or private institution of higher education or involving a public primary or secondary school.

Harris' actions also fit other elements required for a false report charge in the penal code, said Alicia Gallagher, a Cedar Park police spokeswoman.

"In other words, she did not make a direct threat, but knowingly initiated a false threat report that caused action by the police and the nature of the threat would place others in fear of imminent serious bodily injury," Gallagher said.

Harris was released from the Williamson County Jail on Sept. 23 after posting bond on bail set at $5,000, according to court records.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Student faces possible jail time for false shooting report, police say