Audio: 911 calls provide new details on false Texas school threats

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - A KLTV public records request revealed new details in the wave of false active shooter threats that occurred on Thursday, April 13.

Eight universities and colleges were the subject of 911 calls, falsely claiming an active shooter was on each of the campuses. All of the calls came in to local authorities during the late morning. Although the voice in two of the calls sounds similar, authorities have not stated whether the school threats are connected at this time.

On the same day that the false threat occurred, Tyler Police Department released the 911 call to KLTV news. During the two minute call, the caller claimed that a shooter had shot 24 people in the I.T. room of Tyler Junior College’s West campus.

Multiple agencies responded that Thursday, Tyler Junior College’s West and main campuses were evacuated, and the threat was quickly determined to be a hoax.

The 911 call to Tyler dispatch came in at 10:30 a.m. on April 13. At 9:04 a.m. that same morning, Fort Worth police received a 911 call relaying the same type of threat.

The complete audio to both calls is above.

During the five minute 911 call to Fort Worth police, the caller claimed his name was “Mark Brown,” and that a number of students had been shot in a lab at the Faith Forward Nurse Aide Training Academy which is part of Texas Wesleyan University. He also told the Fort Worth dispatcher he was a teacher at the Texas Wesleyan Campus.

Fort Worth police and other agencies quickly responded to the campus and determined the threat to be a hoax.

When asked by a Fort Worth Police dispatcher, the caller provided a 405 area code phone as his own. A Tyler Police spokesperson also confirmed to KLTV news the call in the TJC threat also showed to be from an Oklahoma phone number. However, the origins of the calls are still being investigated.

On the same morning, at least eight colleges and universities were the subject of false active shooter calls, including:

-Texas A&M University in College Station

-Del Mar College in Corpus Christi

-Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth

-Galen College of Nursing in San Antonio

-Collin College in Plano

-Baylor University in Waco

-Lamar Institute of Technology in Beaumont

-Tyler Junior College

KLTV also requested the 911 call audio from Plano Police, San Antonio Police and Corpus Christi Police. Those cities have forwarded the request for public information to their respective legal departments.

On April 7, a false active shooter threat targeted the University of Oklahoma, resulting in a large law enforcement response. In that case, authorities have stated the 911 call came from outside of the United States. KLTV has also requested the audio of the 911 call from Norman, Oklahoma police, which is still pending.

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