The students at Mainland High School panicked.
Foto:
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
A group of Florida high school students are facing felony charges and possible expulsion after a “cruel” school prank causing terrified children to run for safety, authorities said today.
According to the Department of Daytona Beach, the students “scribbled” the promise to shoot the students of Mainland High School on a bathroom wall last Thursday.
Cops investigated the threat and deemed it unfounded: “This type of graffiti in this particular restroom has become commonplace,” the department said in a Facebook post.
The next day, two separate groups of students conspired to “take advantage” of the unrest created by the message by “stageing a shooting,” authorities said.
“Groups can be clearly seen on video, placing themselves in specific positions and locations within the cafeteria, timing their actions,” the department stated.
Several suspicious people can be seen on surveillance footage smiling and laughing until they approached a school administrator and were told “someone had a gun.”
Another male participant waited until his co-workers had spoken to the staff member before suddenly running down a hallway.
That caused a panic, as other frightened students began to run for safety.
Police said surveillance footage never showed the presence of a weapon on campus.
“This whole incident appears to have been a cruel prank by various students. which has now spiraled out of control due to internet trolls, misinformed people, and in some cases, people who aren’t even in Florida or have children who go to school in the Mainland,” police said.
Authorities said the perpetrators now face felony charges for “a false report of the use of firearms in a violent manner against a person or persons.”
The outraged department also recommends that they face expulsion.
Daytona police said they released the lengthy post about the incident to dispel “rumors, conspiracy theories and lies floating around social media about Friday’s events.”
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