JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police are investigating who made the “hoax” call that prompted a lockdown at First Coast High School Monday afternoon, according to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Duval County School Police.
At 1:46 p.m. police received a phone call from a person claiming to be in distress in the school bathroom and that they were going to harm people in the school.
Police arrived at 1:51 p.m. and made a thorough search and they did not find a firearm, a suspect, or anyone with injuries. The students were released from the school after the search and police said there was nothing to back up the validity of the call.
There were at least 30 officers at the school, including DCPS police and first responders from Jacksonville Fire and Rescue.
JSO patrol chief Jaime Eason said the call appeared to be a hoax, but no matter what, they take calls like this seriously.
“We take them as real calls especially when children are involved in schools...so if we do find a suspect and we are going to to a thorough criminal investigation,” Eason said. “There could be criminal charges brought up on that part.”
Eason added that there were a lot of rumors about what was happening at the school and said it’s important to let the police make sure everyone is safe before coming to a conclusion.
“The last thing that we want to do is, God forbid, we have a situation or this was a legitimate situation of a shooting and we have parents that self-deploy into the school and were causing even more chaos for the officers in a very dangerous situation,” Eason said. “If we could push pause and just let the officers do their job then we’re going to push it out as quickly as possible to the media and the parents as well.
A name was given to the police, but they said the name most likely doesn’t belong to a student. JSO will take the lead on tracking the phone that the call was made from. Police said a second call was made saying the same thing.