MELBOURNE, Fla. — There have been two hoax calls in just a matter of days from a fake shooting, leading to a police standoff with an imaginary gunman, and a bogus school bomb threat.
WFTV asked Melbourne police what they are doing to track down the person who is using valuable time and resources.
Investigators said the threats came by phone and email. They said the same person may have made them both, forcing more than 30 officers in two jurisdictions to investigate the bogus claims.
The first call came from a Melbourne neighborhood, police said. Some residents said they were not able to drive into their neighborhood Wednesday due to the police standoff.
Chris Arnold told WFTV he didn't know what to think when Melbourne police converged on his neighborhood, on Dryden Court, looking for a gunman.
"A cop came to our door and asked, 'Did you hear any yelling or shooting?'" said Arnold.
Police had just received this call through a nonemergency line: "I shot my mom and I don't know what else to do, ma'am."
The caller told a communications officer he had his sister and a neighbor tied up, and he warned that police should keep their distance because he had an explosive.
"Please don't let them get too close to me. I'm going to. I will shoot them," said the caller. "I don't want anybody to get too close to me, ma'am."
Palm Bay officers checked another address for the caller, but they didn't find him.
"It's crazy. I don't know why anyone would do such a thing," said neighbor Jerry Hillis.
In less than 24 hours, there was another phony bomb threat; this time, at Eau Gallie High School.
Authorities said they quickly realized there was no threat, but now Melbourne police are investigating the call and email, which may have come from the same person.
WFTV
