An El Dorado woman was arrested yesterday after reportedly causing a panic by posting a false alarm on social media.
Parents picked up their children by the dozen Friday after a social media post alleging a school shooting at Barton Junior High School spread across Facebook.
“Right when school was starting, somebody had posted a message saying ‘They shooting at Barton.’ That’s all that was said,” said Lt. Chris Lutman. “People screen-shotted it and of course they shared it and it caused a big panic.”
Megan Hall, 28, voluntarily visited the El Dorado Police Department for an interview about the post this morning. In the course of the interview, she was arrested on charges of communicating a false alarm, a Class D felony. Hall does not have children at Barton.
Lutman said Hall heard vague information from friends about an alleged potential incident at the school.
“She just chose to put that on there and it caused a huge disruption,” Lutman said. “These kind of activities will not be tolerated. Based on her post, and the kind of alarm it caused at the school, that’s why it’s a Class D felony.”
Hall could face up to six years in prison and as much as a $10,000 fine if convicted.
“We’re going to prosecute it to the fullest extent of the law,” Lutman said.
El Dorado School District Superintendent Jim Tucker said class continued normally at Barton throughout the morning, with the majority of students being unaware of the post.
“Everything was going very normally,” Tucker said. “There was nothing going on.”
The ESD has protocols in place to prevent school shootings before they happen and to mitigate the outcome if a violent incident were to occur.
Prevention begins with creating a culture of kindness and compassion in each of the district’s eight schools. A guidance counselor is present on every ESD campus, available for individual counseling with students and bullying interventions.
Students also participate in programs designed to build camaraderie and trust among themselves. The Step Up! program encourages children to not fall prey to the bystander effect and instead intervene when they see a classmate in need of help.
Rachel’s Challenge, named after the Columbine school shooting’s first victim Rachel Scott, appoints student delegates to act as good examples of the culture of kindness and compassion the district hopes to create.
The ESD schools each hold at least one active shooting drill each year, using lockdowns to help students practice their safety routine in case of an actual incident.
All outside doors except the front are kept locked at all times at each school, and visitors are given background checks on the spot before being allowed to enter any main school buildings. The schools are also under constant video surveillance.
The district’s three school resource officers are the first line of defense if a shooting incident were to occur. The SROs are armed with Tasers and firearms. Administrative staff and some teachers can also access the Panic Button app, which allows them to immediately contact authorities if necessary.
Tucker said the ESD recently revised their notification system in order to make breaking announcements more accessible to parents. Any school lockdowns will be publicized on the district and school’s social media pages, the district’s website and directly to parents’ phones with a text message or voice call through the ESD app.
Additionally, a new phone system was installed over the summer that will allow for instant communication between all of the schools and district administration. Tucker can now make announcements at all eight of the schools from his office in the downtown Administration building.
“The worst thing a parent can do is immediately share a post from another parent or comment on a post from another parent without finding out if the information is accurate,” Tucker said. “Verify information before you put it out there, before you share it, before you comment. Even commenting on stuff that you don’t know the full story about is probably not wise.”
Yesterday, close to 100 children were checked out of school by concerned parents. Tucker said that in the future, parents should call their child’s school or the ESD Administration office before panicking over posts from unofficial sources.
“I appreciate them calling, because whenever they call, we can let them know that everything is okay,” he said. “When they just start assuming and posting on social media, it increases the frustration and the panic.”
Lutman said if one believes they have information about an alleged or potential act of violence, they should report it to the authorities, not social media.
“They need to contact local authorities and relay any information that they have or that they’ve heard so that we can address it,” he said. “If something major happens, then we will keep people updated on social media. If something is that bad, we’re going to have an area set off where parents can pick up kids and stuff like that.”
Caitlan Butler can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].