OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — A massive police presence could be seen outside South High School Thursday morning.
Police said it started just after 8:15 a.m. when they received a call of a shooting. Multiple departments of law enforcement responded to the high school as it went into lockdown with students inside.
Matheo Dominguez said he was in class when lockdown procedures went into place out of nowhere.
"First thing we did was just go to where we’re supposed to go and hide," he said.
Matheo and many other students texted their parents who then rushed to the scene.
"I started to worry," Brenda Dominguez, Matheo's mother said. "(I) got in the car drove here and like all the other parents."
Police searched the building and found no evidence of a shooting. They later determined the incident was likely started by a prank call.
"Anyone involved in this should also know that there are criminal charges they could face for making a call like this," said Omaha Police Officer Michael Pecha.
While the shooting call may have been a hoax, the fear for parents and students was very real.
Matheo remembers sending a message to his mom, during the lockdown
"I remember just telling her I love her," he said. "That’s the only thing I really cared about in this moment, was making sure that she knows that I love her and I’m grateful for everything she did."
As the scene cleared, parents and kids were just happy everyone walked away safely. Many took the rest of the day to decompress
"(We're just going to) let them recover at home and just talk things out," Brenda Dominguez said.
According to the Nebraska State Patrol, Omaha South wasn't the only school to experience hoax calls, which are sometimes called "swatting."
READ MORE: LPS, OPS and other districts receive hoax emergency calls; Omaha South was briefly on lockdown
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