ROANOKE, Va. – A false report of a shooting at the 4700 block of Valley View Boulevard NW on Monday triggered a massive police response and left shoppers on edge.
Roanoke police say the 911 call came in around 6:34 p.m., claiming there was an active shooter in the Valley View Boulevard area. Nearly a dozen police vehicles rushed to the scene, with officers running into stores like Target, some with guns drawn, as they cleared businesses one by one.
Kathleen Deacon said her family was eating at a nearby restaurant when her son left to shop at Target. A few minutes later she said she saw several firetrucks, ambulances, and police cars at the Target parking lot and feared for the worst.
“I was paranoid actually,” Deacon said. “I was anxious to get out of the restaurant because I knew my son was in there.”
Authorities confirmed within 30 minutes there was no threat, and no shots had been fired. Still, the scare left shoppers unsettled.
“My son is deaf so if there had been any alarms or announcements to get out of the building, he wouldn’t have heard,” Deacon said. “My son had been in a mall a few years ago and there was an active shooter, and I just assumed that it would be the same thing again.”
Explaining the heavy presence Monday night, police say they treat every call of this nature seriously, even if it turns out to be false.
“We never want to delay our response to try to verify if an incident is occurring,” Hannah Glasgow, the public information officer for the Roanoke Police Department, told 10 News. “Our job is to get there and verify. However, it was a large amount of resources and it does potentially put a strain on other calls where those resources may be needed.”
Officials also warned knowingly making false calls to police is a crime in Virginia.
“It’s a Class 1 misdemeanor and it is punishable by a fine or up to a certain amount of time in jail,” Glasgow said.
Glasgow also stressed making a false report is not the same as reporting suspicious activity and urged residents to remain vigilant and contact police if they see anything concerning. Police say the investigation to track down the out-of-state caller is ongoing, and so far, no arrests have been made.