April Fools’ prank about active shooter lands plant worker in jail, Ohio sheriff says

Chacour Koop
·1 min read

An Ohio woman’s prank on April Fools’ Day has landed her in jail, officials say.

The woman texted her sister that an active shooter was at a Navistar manufacturing plant north of Springfield, and she was hiding with other employees in locked offices, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

When the concerned sister called for help, deputies rushed to the building within minutes, officials say. Other law enforcement agencies also converged upon the scene, the sheriff’s office told McClatchy News.

While searching the plant, the deputies found the woman, who admitted she sent the text as an April Fools’ joke.

“Basically she had called her sister and said something to the effect of a guy was fired yesterday and has come back in with a gun,” Maj. Chris Clark told the Springfield News-Sun. “We are all hiding in a locked office and asked her to call the police.”

Navistar said an employee was suspended after the incident, the newspaper reported.

The woman was arrested and charged with inducing panic and disruption of public service, officials say.

This wasn’t the only April Fools’ Day joke gone wrong. In Kansas, police officers rushed to a Wichita home and busted through the front door after a mom falsely told her daughter she’d been shot, The Wichita Eagle reported.

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