Student, 17, Arrested After 'Fabricated' 911 Gun Threat Call: PD

NEW HAVEN, CT — A 17-year-old Wilbur Cross High School female student who police said called 911 to report a person with a gun trying to get into the school “fabricated” the event that led to the lockdown of the school Monday morning.

The girl was charged with a felony breach of peace after, Police Chief Renee Dominguez said, she admitted to having made it up.

And, a juvenile from another unnamed state was found by New Haven police investigators to be behind a number of gun violence threats made on Instagram about several New Haven Public Schools. One was James Hillhouse High School, which was also put on lockdown.

Dominguez said law enforcement in the state where the juvenile lives will be making an arrest.

Monday, numerous schools were affected by the threats including Amistad Academy, Edgewood School, Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, Riverside Education Academy and Hill Regional Career High School in addition to Wilbur Cross and Hillhouse.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker reassured families that none of the threats were credible. “I say this as a parent. We have not found any of the threats are credible. We take this very seriously.”

But he added that making these types of threats is “illegal.”

“You will be arrested. We will find you. This creates significant trauma in a community already traumatized. It creates great harm and you will be held accountable.”

Dominquez said that the schools that were targeted will see an increased police presence Tuesday and that all schools “even if they didn’t have a threat,” she said, will have officials visible during school dismissal times.

Dominquez said that the 911 call made by the 17-year-old girl came in at 8:50 a.m. as a report that a person with a gun was trying to get into Wilbur Cross High School. She said that the school’s resource officer contacted the school principal and the building was put in immediate lockdown. She said there was a “big police presence at the school until after an early dismissal for students. No credible threat was found, nor was a gun, school officials said.

Meanwhile, other social media threat posts are being investigated.

Earlier Monday afternoon, the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection said it and other agencies including the Division of Emergency Management, and Connecticut State Police were "aware of the trending school threats around the country."

"We have reached out to municipal CEOs, emergency management directors and school district personnel across the state to provide assistance in managing these incidents," a statement reads. "We continue to work closely with our local, state and federal partners through the investigation."