RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — There was no evidence of a shooting at Lower Richland High School, Richland County deputies determined, after they got a report that there might Monday have been an incident.
Officers said Monday afternoon that there had been one call of a shooting. However, when officers arrived at the scene they say they found no evidence of a shooting and added there was no active shooting incident.
A News19 crew observed that by 3 p.m. officers were beginning to leave the scene.
Deputies have not yet said anything more about the nature of the call, including the details the caller provided or who may have made the message.
The incident comes just days after over a dozen false calls of school shootings in progress in South Carolina last Wednesday. Three were reported in the Midlands: One at Blythewood High School, another at Newberry Middle School, and one other at Sumter High. All those reports turned out to be hoaxes.
In the case of the Blythewood High incident, a heavy law enforcement response took place and the school executed its active shooter protocol. That led to students having to evacuate the school, and after it was determined to be false, the rest of the school day was canceled and Blythewood High had a e-learning day Thursday.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said the call was made to seem as if it came from inside the school but was later determined that was not the case.
The source of those calls is under investigation by local, state, and federal authorities.
