A caller falsely reported an active shooter at a Tennessee high school on Tuesday, touching off a massive police response as students were evacuated and several nearby campuses locked down, authorities said.
Hawkins County Sheriff’s deputies and Church Hill police officers rushed to Volunteer High School, where students had just returned to campus on Monday. Tuesday was set to be the first full day of class.
The school is just south of the Kentucky state line and a little more than 80 miles northeast of Knoxville.
The Hawkins County School District locked down schools due to the “emergency situation at Volunteer High School,” the school system said Tuesday.
But it all turned out to be a hoax, touched off by a 911 call just before 8 a.m., officials said.
“He (the caller) advised the dispatcher that he’d been bullied and harassed by popular students. And that he was in the main bathroom at Volunteer and he was armed with a hand gun,” Hawkins County Sheriff Ronnie Lawson told reporters.
“Said he was next to the office and he was going to make his way to the gymnasium where he was going to shoot his gun.”
Law enforcement rushed to the scene and one city officer even got onto campus while the call was still happening, according to Lawson.
“We did a thorough search, we evacuated as many students as possible,” Lawson said. “At this time, everything appears to be: This call was a hoax.”
There were no injuries during the evacuation and lockdowns, officials said.
Deputies, police and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents are still investigating in hopes of finding the person who made the call.
Volunteer High School seniors were being honored at a breakfast on Tuesday morning.
