Police respond to active shooter prank call at Mount Healthy High School

Law enforcement responded to Mount Healthy High School Wednesday morning after a report of an active shooter threat that proved to be a prank call, school district officials said.

Hamilton County Dispatch said the report came in around 11:30 a.m. Bryce Blanton, a spokesperson for Mount Healthy City School District, said local law enforcement were the ones who received a call of an active shooter.

The caller reported the incident as being in room 55, which doesn't exist in the building, Blanton said. The school building, which also houses the junior high school, was placed on lockdown with students and teachers sheltering inside classrooms, he added.

Colerain Township Fire Department battalion chief Steve Conn said the call came in as a level one mass casualty incident, which resulted in a large response including at least six medical units, and multiple fire and support units.

Parents were initially told to stage at Hilltop Plaza. After police searched and cleared the high school, students were dismissed early and parents were allowed to pick up their children.

A similar call was made regarding the Mount Healthy Preparatory and Fitness Academy, which sits adjacent to Mount Healthy City Schools' central administration building and Mount Healthy South Elementary School, Blanton said.

Both of those buildings were placed on an external lockdown as a precaution, Blanton said, meaning no one was allowed inside the building but students and staff weren't made to shelter in place. Those buildings were also cleared by law enforcement, he said.

"It was a pretty scary experience for everyone involved," he said. Blanton added the school district just conducted a safety training on Tuesday.

This isn't the first hoax call reporting an active shooter at a local school district this school year, leaving parents and family members concerned for the wellbeing of their loved ones.

In September, Princeton High School was forced into lockdown after a caller said 10 students were injured in a classroom next door. That call was later traced to Modesto, California.

Enquirer Media partner Fox 19 provided the photo for this report.