DEEP RUN — Prank callers from Kinston High School may have landed themselves felony charges.
The Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office reported Friday the 911 call center received three back-to-back calls traced back to KHS, starting at 1:07 p.m. Both male and female callers reported a stabbing, a shooting and a bomb at South Lenoir High School. Administrators put the Deep Run school on lockdown as deputies investigated the area.
Finding nothing, the LCSO now consider the calls baseless.
Investigators turned their focus from the incident at South Lenoir to discovering the identity of who made the calls.
“These false calls created a disruption at the school, put fear in the hearts of students, parents, and staff, and endanger our responding officers who are rapidly trying to get to the school,” LCSO Chief Deputy Chris Hill said in a statement. “If the callers are identified they will be prosecuted.”
Making a false report of a destructive device and false report regarding mass violence at an educational property are both Class H felonies. State law also provides for restitution of the costs of the disruption by those convicted. Misuse of the 911 system is a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Lenoir County Schools Superintendent Steve Mazingo said the process went well, and there will be a discussion on the response made in conjunction with law enforcement.
“They went through the full protocol, so this was good review,” Mazingo said.
He added, “We will sit down together and talk about this (incident) from both our perspectives.”
Free Press staff writer Jessika Morgan contributed to this report. Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.