Teen charged over prank shooting text
Aug. 2—VALDOSTA — A Lowndes County teenager isn't laughing after she was arrested for sending a friend a text that sent police on a search for a nonexistent shooting victim.
At 12:12 p.m. Saturday, police and EMTs headed to a home in the 1700 block of Northside Drive on a report a girl had been shot, the Valdosta Police Department said.
A caller to E911 said her 17-year-old friend sent her a text message that she had been shot and could not call for help, so the caller reached out to police, police said.
The 17-year-old girl then sent her friend a text saying it was all a joke but no one could find her, police said.
Officers spent time trying to locate the teen to make sure she was all right; she was found at a residence which was not the Norman Drive location. She told police it was a prank she had seen on social media.
The 17-year-old Lowndes County girl was arrested and jailed on charges of misdemeanor reckless conduct, misdemeanor false report of a crime and misdemeanor unlawful conduct during a 911 call, police said.
"Our officers responded in full emergency mode to this so-called prank. Not only were our officers' lives at risk but also so many people who were traveling on our roadways as emergency vehicles were responding. Due to the nature of this call for service, our officers had to spend time to ensure that no one had been injured, which pulled them from answering other emergency calls. We will continue to prosecute anyone who falsifies a crime for social media attention," Police Chief Leslie Manahan said in the statement.
Terry Richards is the senior reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times.
