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False call about potential violence at the Gananda Central School District brought a lot of anxiety to parents and students

Some very tense moments for parents and students at the Gananda Middle School on Friday morning.

Wayne County Sheriff Robert Milby said that his department received text messages to 911 from inside the school indicating that there was a kidnapping in progress and someone with a gun inside the school.

Sheriff's Deputies, Macedon Police Officers, State Police, and a member of the ATF responded to the school, as the school was placed into lockdown.

But Milby said it turned out this was a false call.

“We immediately made contact with the school, we were able to pinpoint pretty quickly where those calls came from,” said Milby. “And we’re happy to be able to tell you that there were no injuries and this was not a credible threat, not a true call, it was a false call.”

A number of police agencies responded as did anxious parents. Police did search the building and classes were canceled for the rest of the day.

Later on Friday, the Sheriff’s Dept. said that a middle school student was taken into custody and that person is facing charges of falsely reporting an incident, through the Wayne County Family Court.

Gananda School Supt. Shawn Van Scoy posted a letter online after the incident, saying that while Friday’s events were traumatizing, officials are grateful that all systems operated as they should have.

Van Scoy said officials recognize that students and staff will need support and the district’s Trauma Illness and Grief team and the Wayne County Crisis Integration team will be at Gananda on Monday to provide mental health.

He said that law enforcement will also be present at all campuses on Monday, and Van Scoy said that, “Their presence is not about safety, their presence will be to rebuild the positive connections that may have been damaged by their active presence today.”

A community forum will be held on Tuesday, June 7, and more details on that will be released over the weekend.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.