Shaken parents pick up students early after fake threat at MLK Jr. High School

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Dozens of parents waited anxiously outside Martin Luther King Jr. High School after the school was placed on lockdown Thursday, while police investigated a potential active shooter.

Metro Nashville Police cleared the school Thursday morning and determined the 911 call to be a hoax.

Christen Francis raced to the school after receiving a text from her daughter that they were on lockdown.

“She kept telling me she could hear the sirens, she could hear the helicopters and how scared she was, and it’s not ok, it’s not ok, especially after Covenant,” Francis said.

Both MLK Jr. High School and Hunters Lane High School received threats of violence on Thursday, MNPD said.

Police are now working closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to try and determine where the calls came from, but they believe the phone calls were placed from out of state.

While parents outside MLK Jr. High School were relieved, they were also shaken by the fear that the threat could have been real.

“It’s scary there’s hundreds of police cars, we watched the SWAT team walk out of the building, these kids are just here to learn and this what they’re having to deal with,” Nathan Weinberg said. “They’re here to learn, not to think about how they could jump out of a window if they needed to to be safe.”

Police said there have been hundreds of similar threats in cities across America. MNPD said it will continue to take all threats of harm seriously.

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