Monday’s threat to shoot up Vinita High School which led to a massive law enforcement search to locate a suspected shooter may have been nothing more than a sick phone prank made from out of the state, and possibly from a foreign country.
Vinita Public Schools entered a district-wide lockdown Monday morning after a suspect called Vinita High School, said they were armed with an assault rifle and were on the way to initiate an active shooter scenario.
That call prompted a massive law enforcement response which put the community on edge as officers from the entire region began pouring into town.
Vinita Police Chief Joey Babcock said the Federal Bureau of Investigation now is involved, but it turns out the whole ordeal may have been a hoax.
“That’s what it seems to be,” Babcock said Tuesday.
“The FBI will take on the investigation, but at this time we’re almost positive there was no credible threat to students and the community. The suspects are from out of the state, or out of the country,” Babcock said.
He said a VHS student who was detained at home early in the response as a person of interest was not involved. The student’s name came up early and he had to be checked out.
Babcock thanked the numerous agencies for their rapid response.
“When you’re dealing with a threat to kids at school, you have to respond. Officers came from everywhere and just flooded this town. We appreciate all of the agencies who responded and the outpouring of support and the positive comments from the community. We had agencies here we’ve never even seen. Everybody had the same goal to protect our kids and protect the public,” Babcock said.
He explained a threat about pipe bombs being at the downtown McDonald’s also turned out to be bogus.
A Tulsa police bomb dog was brought in and cleared the restaurant.
Babcock said the caller making the threats kept calling police dispatch throughout the ordeal, saying he could see officers and firefighters from his position. His last call was made just after 10 p.m. Monday.
“He called us all night,” Babcock said.
He commended his dispatcher center for handling all the radio calls with the suspect continuing to call on the phone.
He also thanked parents for remaining calm and not interfering with law enforcement by trying to access the schools.
“They don’t realize what a big help that was in that situation,” Babcock said.
He also thanked downtown businesses, such as McDonald’s and First National Bank, for their cooperation.
The threat of the pipe bombs led to traffic having to be diverted at two downtown intersections on Wilson Street at the corners of Canadian and Illinois Avenue.
Vinita Public Schools Police Chief Bobby Floyd said he spoke to the caller during the original threat to the school.
Floyd said the caller was very calm, said he had an AR rifle and a Glock pistol, and had made up his mind to come in shooting.
“He said he was going to do damage in five minutes. He was really calm and it was eerie,” Floyd said.
Floyd, who also is an active shooter instructor, noted VHS just conducted a lockdown drill last week and the school was prepared.
“We had just gone over that drill a week before. Our kids and teachers were ready. If he really was out there, he wouldn’t have gotten into the building. The students were all safe in secure rooms,” Floyd said.
He also commended the rapid response by local law enforcement.
“They were all here in under two minutes,” Floyd said.
Police said the investigation remains ongoing and further details will be forthcoming.