'Hoax' active shooter call forces Tennessee schools to lockdown

August 11, 2021

Police blast ‘hoax’ active shooter call which saw Tennessee schools put on lockdown on first day of the year as one student is taken to hospital after suffering ‘unrelated’ seizure

Tennessee law enforcements officials said the active school shooter report that sparked several lockdowns in Tennessee was a ‘hoax’
A student who was taken to the hospital suffered an unrelated ‘seizure’ before the call, according to police
Someone called 911 claiming to be a bullied Volunteer High School student who was going to shoot people in the gym around 8am on the school’s first full day
The fake call had real impacts, including a district-wide evacuation, traumatized students, panicked parents and a tense situation for responding officers
‘When you have an active shooter situation, you may have to step over one of the kids or faculty to get to the shooter, and we are human beings. We have feelings’
The reports of the shooter came from Volunteer High School in the city of Church Hill in rural Hawkins County in the Northwest section of the state

Tennessee law enforcement officials said the active school shooter report that sparked several lockdowns on the first full day of school was a ‘hoax,’ and a student who was taken to a hospital suffered an unrelated seizure before the call.

Someone called 911 around 9am claiming to be a bullied Volunteer High School student who was going to shoot people in the gym, Hawkins County Sheriff Ronnie Lawson said during a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

But the sheriff said there was no evidence of a shooter or gunshots and it’s ‘absolutely safe’ for kids to return to school Wednesday.

‘Most shooters don’t call and warn anybody. They just show up,’ Lawson said.

Law enforcement is currently working on tracking down where the call came from and who made the call.

It’s unknown at this point if the caller was a student who actually made the call from Volunteer High School, which is located in the city of Church Hill in rural Hawkins County in the Northwest section of the state near the Virginia border.

Reports of an active shooter on the Volunteer High School campus – pictured here – is prompting lockdowns of Hawkins County, Tennessee schools

Police swarmed to a Tennessee high school in Hawkins County after getting a 911 call from someone claiming to be a bullied student who was going to start shooting in the Volunteer High School gym

The fake call had real impacts, including a multi-agency response, a district-wide evacuation, traumatized students, panicked parents and a tense situation for responding officers.

‘It’s hard on the students. It’s hard on the faculty. And it’s hard on the officers going in because we’re the ones who have to make entry and go in,’ Lawson said.

‘When you have an active shooter situation, you may have to step over one of the kids or faculty to get to the shooter, and we are human beings. We have feelings. And it makes it hard on us on the scene.’

Blair Walsingham, who has two children in the school district, told DailyMail.com that she had a panic attack after first hearing about the shooting.

‘My heart breaks for the students, Parents and staff who are going through this right now,’ she said.

Brittany Walker, whose 15-year-old son is a sophomore in the high school, told News4 Nashville at 10:40am that her son was still in the locked down high school and they’ve been talking on the phone.

‘He was distraught. He said, “Mom, there’s a shooter in the school,” and I lost it. I said, “I’ll be right there,” ‘ Walker said.

Fighting back tears, she said, ‘I just want him out of the school.’

Multiple law enforcement agencies were

An ambulance was spotted rushing to the scene, but there was a student who suffered a seizure in an ‘unrelated’ incident

The Hawkins County District lifted all the lockdowns around 10:30am.

Matt Hixson, Director of Schools, said they plan on opening all the schools, including the high school, like normal on Wednesday.

Videos on social media showed school buses escorted by law enforcement shuttling students to the nearby Mount Carmel National Guard armory.

The Hawkins County School school district said at 9:52am that all students in the district – except for the high school – have been escorted to safety.

There was a long line of cars filing into the armory to pick up the children, as of 10:15am.

‘Parents, please stay in your cars when you arrive to the armory and wait for further instructions. Staff are there to assist with reunification process,’ the school district said in a statement.

Videos on social media show school buses escorted by law enforcement driving students to the nearby Mount Carmel National Guard armory

There’s a long line of cars filing into the armory to pick up the children, as of 10:15am

The first public statement about the incident came from the Hawkins County School District at 8:43am, which said:

‘There has been an emergency situation at Volunteer High School. Out of an abundance of caution, all schools from Surgoinsville to East Hawkins County have been placed on lockdown.

‘Our major concern at this time is for the safety of our students and staff; please stay clear of the area to allow law enforcement and emergency personnel access to the area.’

The lockdown for all schools except Volunteer High School were lifted around 10:30am.

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