Hoax: "Teen" Boy Tells Police Dad Shot Mom in Fairfax

By Bay City News Service:

A report from a person who claimed to be a 14-year-old boy and told authorities that his father shot his mother Tuesday afternoon in Fairfax turned out to be a hoax, a Marin County Sheriff’s lieutenant said.

Deputies received a call from a male in his home in the first block of Deer Creek Court around 3:25 p.m., Marin County sheriff’s Lt. Doug Pittman said.

The boy, who seemed scared and upset, told sheriff’s office dispatchers while he was hiding in his bedroom that he didn’t think his father knew he was home, Pittman said.

The boy said his father was angry and armed with automatic weapons and other firearms, according to Pittman.

While on the phone with dispatchers the boy reported he heard his father fired multiple shots, however deputies around the home did not hear anything, Pittman said.

Deputies evacuated residents from surrounding homes, he said.

A woman arrived to the residence, told deputies she was the homeowner and said she believed her 9-year-old son was inside by himself, according to the lieutenant said.

Deputies began to suspect the call was a hoax after the woman and neighbors provided information to deputies that did not match what the caller told them, Pittman said. With the help of deputies, the woman made a phone call to her son, who said he was home alone and safe with his golden retriever questioning the large police presence in the neighborhood, according to Pittman.

At the request of deputies, the woman told her son to step outside the home where he was reunited by waiting deputies to his mother, Pittman said.

Officers from the Fairfax Police Department, Central Marin Police Authority and California Highway Patrol also responded to the call.

This was the third hoax Marin County law enforcement agencies responded to in recent months.

The San Rafael Police Department responded to a disturbance call last month after a report of a hostage situation at a residence and a report of an active shooter at Terra Linda High School in June, which both turned out to be false alarms.