The Collin College Plano campus was evacuated after the police received a “hoax call” about a mass shooting.
Multiple police vehicles responded to the call after a hoax call came into its 911 center at around 9:45 a.m. Thursday, Plano police told WFAA. Students and staff were seen evacuating the building, in a video from a chopper. Initially, the Plano police also bought into the hoax, saying that there was a possible active shooter at the campus, and informed the public of the same on Twitter. However, they later confirmed that no injuries were reported.
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“We had a HOAX call come into our 9-1-1 center at approximately 9:45 am that a mass shooting had occurred at Collin College Plano campus. Plano Police and Fire-Rescue response was swift. It was quickly determined to be a false call. So far NO Injuries have been located. However, our officers are still making sure all buildings have been searched. Please be patient,” they said on Twitter later.
We had a HOAX call come into our 9-1-1 center at approximately 9:45 am that a mass shooting had occurred at Collin College Plano campus. Plano Police and Fire-Rescue response was swift. It was quickly determined to be a false call.
— Plano Police (Texas) (@PlanoPoliceDept) April 13, 2023
A text sent to students said that the classes and normal operations would continue at 1 p.m.
Similar hoax calls were also reported in other schools in Texas on Thursday including Texas A&M in College Station, Texas Wesleyan in Fort Worth, Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Galen College of Nursing School in San Antonio, Tyler Junior College in Tyler, and Baylor in Waco.
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It has not been established by the officials if these calls are related. Texas Wesleyan University received a similar call just after 9 a.m. Fort Worth police said that they found no evidence of an emergency. The authorities confirmed that there was no other threat to the campus.
An investigation was conducted and it was later concluded that the call was placed from a scam number.