A prank caller reportedly “swatted” Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg Tuesday morning, summoning SWAT teams to the shooting survivor’s Parkland home.
Broward County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Gina Carter said an 8:39 a.m. 911 call described someone being at the Florida home with a weapon and holding hostages.
Carter went on to confirm that the call in question was a “hoax.” Coral Springs Fire Rescue, who responded to the home, quickly realized that the call was a prank.
“A SWAT team responded and cleared the home,” she said. “We are investigating who made the call.”
USA Today reports that Tuesday’s incident also led to a lockdown of one local elementary school.
WPLG reported that Hogg, 18, wasn’t home at the time but learned of the frightening incident through a friend. The Parkland activist and his mother are in Washington, D.C. to accept the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, according to New York Magazine.
“There’s people trying to distract from what we’re trying to push here, which is the March For Our Lives Road To Change,” Hogg, who graduated days earlier, told the news station during a phone interview.
“And I want people to know, like, we’re just trying to advocate for change. There’s going to be people against it and always will be, but we’re going to keep going no matter what. Nothing will stop us.”
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Tuesday’s incident.
[Featured image: David Hogg/AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee]
