Student Arrested For 911 Gun Hoax At Barrington Middle School

LITHIA, FL — The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office arrested a student accused of making what turned out to be a false claim about a gun on the Barrington Middle School campus on Wednesday. The false call, which the sheriff's office called a hoax, sparked two schools to shut down and the sheriff's office to respond in force.

Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a press conference Wednesday that a 911 call came in, reporting a gun on campus. Investigators later discovered the caller took another student's phone from the gym and into the bathroom, where he reportedly made the call and told the operator his friend had a gun. As the dispatcher tried to get more information, he hung up and dropped the phone in a toilet.

The 15-year-old student, who Patch is not naming because of his age, faces charges of felony tampering with physical evidence, misdemeanor misuse of the 911 system, misdemeanor disruption of a school function and misdemeanor petit theft.

The call came in at 2:14 p.m. Wednesday, and both campuses were on lockdown within four minutes, Chronister said. Barrington Middle School, and the adjoining Stowers Elementary School, were on lockdown while sheriff's deputies searched both schools for a gun, finding nothing.

"As false as this was, it felt just as real," Sheriff Chad Chronister said at the press conference.

On police radio communications, one person thought they heard "shots fired," Chronister said, and "this robust response... became a hyperwarped robust response."

"Causing fear and panic is not funny, and as this student will, unfortunately, learn the hard way, making such a serious false claim comes with severe consequences," Chronister in a release.

In the conference, Chronister thanked parents for their patience and his deputies for the way they responded to the potential threat.

See Chronister's press update here: