'Hoax' caller demanded payment, threatened Chattanooga State students, police say

and staff at chanaga State Community College locked down for hours as law enforcement responded to a credible threat the school now saying that threat was a hoax thanks for joining us I'm Kim Chapman Whitfield and I'm Josh Roat State Hamilton County EMA say no one was hurt they found no suspects or victims in this Chad police say the threat was someone demanding money or they uh would hurt students take a look at this drone video here this was the scene as law enforcement swept the buildings room by room looking for that threat in from chatt good police chief Harry sumers says his Department had officers on campus and their response was immediate Hamilton County EM says law enforcement received a credible threat this morning at 9:45 7 minutes later Chat State goes into lockdown then later at 10:12 a.m. Hamilton County EMA pushes their alert of the active scene at the college for the next several hours we are told police whipped every building on chat State's campus then at 10:06 in the afternoon Chat State lift the lock down minutes later Hamilton County EMA confirmed the campus is safe CPD says the investigation into what happened today is on going he says both local and federal agencies are a part of this investigation and News Channel 99's Mary Beth mangram has been keeping up with the story since Chat State went on lockdown today she joined us now live to tell us about what she has heard from authorities there Mary Beth good evening yeah Kim we first learned here at the Hamilton County Emergency operation ation Center that no one was hurt and no shots were fired no shooter was found at around 11:30 a.m. this morning hours later Chat State said law enforcement determined this was all a hoax he's going to shoot Chat State up he has a bazooka rifle and gun at the Technology Center saying he is inside the chat chat sayate right now this broadcastify dispatch audio gives you a look into one of the phone calls that sent Chattanooga Community College into lockdown Thursday morning at uh 9:45 a.m. we received a credible threat at the Chattanooga State's Main Campus located on MN Cola highway but that call is now revealed to be a hoax according to law enforcement this is a hoax that's been going on throughout the nation but before that was confirmed First Responders flooded campus softball state has been clear that's the stary but the actual softball has been check during the lockdown tiger alerts told the students to go inside and lock their doors all while officers worked to clear every corner of the campus and portions of the Riverwalk I've cleared the CBI building and the stem school as well but as the search continued police found no Intruder inside at this point there is no active as salent there's the possibility of an armed party on the Chattanooga State campus who is claiming to have hostages in plan M no injuries were reported on the campus but two people were treated for anxiety concerns and one officer was treated for issues with the heat grateful that the outcome showed a clean sweep and an all clear I think we're all grateful for that outcome Chattanooga police are still working to find out who it was on the other line it's a I like an R type phone to where you can't really pinpoint its location the investigation will continue on because we still have an issue with um with the the calls that came in so we will continue to do that Chattanooga state is also offering counseling services for those who may have been affected by today's events the threat was originally reported to have been a possible gas leak but after the campus was cleared Chattanooga fire department confirmed that there was no cause for concern reporting live I'm Mary Beth mangram News Channel 9 all right Mary Beth thank you very much for that live report now since Chat State sent out their alert of a lockdown parents and students spoke with our crews at the scene and they told us digitally also through our live stream coverage today they tell us they were worried and anxious and scared one mother we spoke with says her 18-year-old daughter was taking shelter in a classroom our crew at the scene saw parents waiting across the street from chat State's entrance they were told they could reunite with students at the Hubert fry Center eventually Hamilton County School says None of their campuses went into lockdown today let's go now live to News Channel 9's Maggie Weaver who was at Chad State this morning as well she's been tracking down reaction from parents and students who were hiding in classrooms with others Maggie Josh Kim parents waited for hours here outside of the Chattanooga State campus today after what police are now calling a hoax now of course emotions were high and the sun was hot as we waited to hear from police about the student safety it's my son it's my whole life so he is in any danger or just thinking that somebody is threatening to do something to innocent kids that in you know that they just go to school it kills me Jose Andrade says he dropped everything when he heard from his son about the possible threat on campus my son started texting us and they say I was possibly an active shooter and he was hiding in an uh office with the teacher we waited across the street from the campus entrance with students and parents anxious to know if their kids were safe no I can't wait to see them and hug them students like Riley told me that they were in the parking lot when the text alert went out so she was able to leave campus While others had to shelter in place was in my car was about to get out go in class and I saw the text on somebody's Snapchat so I'm like hyperventilating like leaning back in my car another student told me he was rushed into an office at Collegiate High School when the campus went on lockdown and so we all bunched up and huddled up in there get got in a corner turn off the lights after nearly 2 hours of waiting you can see police giving parents an update we didn't have any evidence that the person was actually there one student I talked to said he was grateful police took the threat seriously thankful the test they did take the uh right precautions to like keep us safe and now of harm fep and many parents told me they had mixed emotions I'm mad I'm scared I got anxiety I'm sad I I I don't know how how to feel about any of it I don't going to feel like 100% until I give him a hug and that hug did happen I'm glad I got to see my parents again and got to finally hug them and tell them that I'm okay while parents and students both had a very anxious day one parent tells me that she was happy to see glimmers of kindness happening all around her while they were waiting on police she tells me that people were buying packs of water and handing them out to strangers conversations were happening and prayers Andrade tells me that he's happy to be home and finally getting some rest in Chattanooga Maggie Weaver news channel 9 all right Maggie thanks so much for that live report tonight now we asked Chief Summers if there was any similarity between what happened today and at Brainard High School more than a year ago the TBI says Brainard High victim to high was victim to a coach call hoax call that sent it into lockdown Chief summer says there are similarities however they are still investigating and do not want to draw a direct connection just yet thanks for making News Channel 9 your trusted source for local news for updates and the latest Unbreaking news hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications