Houston High School in Germantown spent part of Friday in lockdown after staff received a threatening phone call, according to officials. Germantown Police officers rushed to the campus, securing the building while students and staff sheltered in place. The call was later deemed a false threat, though detectives with the Criminal Investigations Division are still digging into who was behind it. Police said they planned to stay on campus for the rest of the school day as a precaution.
Police confirm hoax, but keep digging
Detectives with the Germantown Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division are leading the case, and the department has confirmed the call was a hoax, according to LocalMemphis. Officers briefly locked down the school while they swept the campus and completed their initial safety checks.
Hit by a wave of copycat swatting calls
The Germantown incident unfolded in the middle of a wave of similar fake threats, often referred to as "swatting" calls, that disrupted schools across Tennessee earlier in the week. Federal and state agencies, including the FBI and Homeland Security, were assisting local departments as they worked through the rash of cases, WSMV reported. Authorities have been blunt that these hoaxes are treated as serious crimes because they put students, staff, and first responders in real danger.
Not Houston High's first lockdown scare
This is not the first time Houston High has faced a frightening but ultimately unfounded threat. In February 2024, the school was locked down after an anonymous bomb threat, prompting Germantown police and school officials to conduct building sweeps and arrange an early dismissal, ActionNews5 reported. That earlier threat also turned out to be unfounded.
Police want tips from the community
So far, Germantown Police have not announced any arrests in connection with Friday's call, and detectives are still following up on leads, according to LocalMemphis. Officials are asking anyone with information about the threat to contact the Germantown Police Department so investigators can track down whoever is responsible.
