NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Nashville Public Schools faced two different hoax threats at campuses on Wednesday — each vastly different in the nature of what happened.
The threat at Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School came in at around 8:30 a.m.
MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted said that call — with background noise and screaming — elicited a response of an immediate active threat. The school went on lockdown, students went into the corners of their classrooms, and the police department swiftly responded until they figured the threat was a hoax.
Parents were notified of the situation at MLKJ, and some parents picked up their kids soon after the threat concluded.
However, the threat call to Hunters Lane High School was different, Braisted said. He noted the call at HLHS came straight to the school around 8:53 a.m., and the school secretary immediately notified the on-site SRO. They did a quick investigation and found no immediate threat. The call to Hunters Lane didn't have the same alarming noises in its threat, Braisted said.
Hunters Lane didn't go on lockdown, and there was not the same communication to parents as at MLKJ. MNPS does have a policy that states every school should have an emergency preparedness plan for bomb threats, active shooter threats and weather. It doesn't state how communications of threats must go.
In the case of Wednesday's threats, the FBI is now investigating the threatening call that led to the lockdown at MLKJ.
This is just the latest hoax called into Nashville locations over the last week — including the Nashville International Airport, the Hard Rock Cafe, the AT&T building, a police precinct and Hunters Lane. Metro Police released little information over the weekend when threats were called into two downtown locations as well as the airport, a police precinct or Hunters Lane High School. Police said they didn't comment on those threats in order to avoid copycat crimes.
"This aligns with a concerning national trend known as 'swatting,' aimed at spreading fear among students, parents, and staff while also draining valuable law enforcement resources," Braisted said. "While we treat every threat with utmost seriousness, we must also exercise discretion based on the specific circumstances of each situation. Our primary goal remains the safety of our students and staff, and we are committed to avoiding unnecessary panic that could potentially harm our school communities."
