BENTON, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office is investigating a false report of an active shooter on the campus of Benton High School late Wednesday morning.
The call came in just before 11:50 a.m., reporting a white male on campus with a rifle and that students had been shot. The high school and elementary campuses were locked down and deputies were on the scene within minutes. The buildings were searched and cleared shortly after 12 p.m. and the lockdown was lifted by 12:20 p.m.
“It was a false alarm and school operations are returning to normal at both Benton High and Kingston,” according to a spokesperson for Bossier schools.
According to BPSO, that false report may have been a robocall similar to those that have been called in to campuses elsewhere in the country in recent months.
According to the Associated Press, federal agents believe the spate of threats and false reports of shooters at high schools and colleges across the U.S. since June may be coming from outside of the country.
So far, officials have identified calls to about 250 colleges, 100 high schools and several junior high schools since early June falsely reporting explosive devices being planted at the schools or saying that a shooting was imminent.
