Pamela Sisco New Carlisle, Ohio woman arrested in April Fool’s Day joke, texting her sister about an active shooter at her place of work, only for the sibling to call 911 and police to swarm manufacturing plant.
April Fool’s Day prank gone wrong. A 57 year old Ohio woman has been arrested after texting her sister on April 1, claiming there was an active shooter at her place of work – with the sibling in turn immediately calling 911, leading to a large swarm of police within minutes.
Pamela Sisco of New Carlisle was charged with inducing panic and disrupting public services following the text messages she sent to her sister.
Her first court appearance was set for Friday morning.
Sisco, who works at a Navistar Plant in Springfield, texted her sister around 11:45am on Thursday, saying there was an active shooter at her own workplace.
The sister, who has not been named, quickly called 911.
Workers reflect on ordeal as cops swarm workplace
‘She said there was a guy that got fired yesterday and he came in with a gun and they are barricaded with the lights off in an office,’ the sister said to a dispatcher, according to WHIO.
‘She sent me a text, and I’m afraid to text her if they are barricaded and hiding.’
Multiple police agencies responded to the call, with deputies arriving within two minutes and entering the plant before learning of the prank.
About 18 minutes passed between the initial 911 call and the determination that there was no active threat.
Workers and their family members believed the active shooter threat was real when the large police response arrived at the facility.
‘They held us at gunpoint and we had to basically put our hands up and walk to them,’ employee Michelle Newman said of the ordeal.
Toni Hamilton, whose son works at the plant, was also terrified as Thursday’s drama unfolded.
‘She put a lot of people in danger …’
‘I didn’t know if I was going to talk to my son again in those seconds. It was horrible.’
According to the Dayton Daily News, Navistar has suspended Sisco pending the results of an investigation.
Maj. Chris Clark also admonished Sisco for her alleged crime, saying: ‘She put a lot of people in danger today over a stupid joke.’
‘It’s a sick joke that’s what it is, and it’s not a joke as far as I’m concerned,’ Sheriff Deb Burchett added.
CNN reports Sisco has admitted to law enforcement the fact that the text was an April Fools’ Joke.
The April Fools’ Joke follows 20 mass shootings that have occurred in the two weeks since the shooting in the Atlanta area that left eight people dead, including six Asian women.
