What started as a heart-stopping report of an active shooter at Saint Andrew's Sewanee School on Friday ended with relief, after deputies swept the campus and confirmed there was no threat. The scene was quickly cleared, and school leaders said students and staff were never in danger and that normal operations continued throughout the incident.
Officials say miscommunication sparked the rush to campus
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said a miscommunication led deputies to believe there was an active shooter on campus. The office later clarified that “it was quickly realized that there was no active shooter and that facts had been miscommunicated,” according to WSMV. Deputies still conducted a full sweep of the school before clearing the scene, and the sheriff’s office stressed it treats every report of a possible threat as real and responds accordingly.
Campus protocols and local training
Saint Andrew's Sewanee operates as a small boarding-and-day campus and uses established emergency protocols, along with close coordination with local law enforcement, to guide any potential evacuations or lockdowns. The University of the South provides active-shooter and emergency procedures for campus community members, detailed in its University of the South safety guide. Local reporting also notes that Franklin County holds tabletop exercises and multi-agency drills with area schools to practice coordinated responses, according to the Sewanee Mountain Messenger.
False reports strain resources and stir anxiety
False or hoax active-shooter reports at campuses have triggered large police responses across the country, creating panic and tying up emergency resources, experts told national outlets. KSL has documented a recent wave of similar hoaxes that disrupted universities and forced law enforcement into rapid, large-scale deployments. Closer to home, Franklin County experienced an accidental lockdown in January after an alert was triggered by mistake, according to WSMV.
Officials said they plan to review how Friday’s miscommunication unfolded as deputies and school leaders work to tighten communication between dispatchers and responders. For now, the Sewanee community is relieved that no one was hurt and reminded of how quickly a few wrong words can rattle an entire campus.
