BRYSON CITY, N.C. — A North Carolina school district sent all students home after a shooting threat targeting its high school was deemed a hoax.
Swain County Schools spokesman Toby Burrell tells The Asheville Citizen-Times a parent notified the Swain County High School principal shortly before 7 a.m. Thursday of a shooting threat posted on Facebook.
Burrell says the high school was immediately placed on a hard lockdown, while the district's two elementary schools, pre-kindergarten school and middle school were placed on perimeter lockdowns.
Burrell says school officials got a "dry run" to prepare in the event of an active shooter. He says the person behind the threat is unknown.
Swain County sheriff's deputies evacuated and searched the high school, turning up nothing. School officials decided to dismiss for the day around 9:30 a.m.
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