Active-shooter alarm scare at Framingham High prompts chaos

An active-shooter alarm accidentally went off at Framingham High Friday, sending several terrified students running from the school.

There was no shooter and no threat to the public. The false alarm went off at 10:20 a.m. as a maintenance worker changed the system’s battery, school officials said.

Framingham Schools Superintendent Robert Tremblay told the MetroWest Daily News that shaken-up students were allowed to take the rest of the day off from school.

“The good news is, this was a false alarm. The bad news is, it caused a lot of people to be upset unnecessarily,” Tremblay told the outlet. “We train people, if you have an active shooter, you don’t necessarily hide in the corner as you did in the lockdown days. You get out. They did the right thing.”

However, NBC reported that some students tried to barricade themselves in classrooms as the alarm went off. 

Framingham police confirmed that they were called to the school and that there was no threat.

“The Framingham Police responded to an emergency call at Framingham High School. We had officers in the school and were on scene immediately. It was determined to be a false alarm,” Framingham police said on Twitter. 

Friday’s false alarm follows a spate of fake 911 calls targeting more than 30 schools across Massachusetts. The practice, known as “swatting,” aims to send a heavy law enforcement presence to the targeted location.  

Tremblay said the false alarm was not connected to the recent swatting reports and that Friday’s incident is under review. 

In a statement released Friday afternoon, Framingham Public Schools apologized and said administrators “understand how traumatizing this morning’s false alarm was for many of our students and staff.” The school said it would provide counseling support to students and staff through the end of next week.

School officials also intend to evaluate the timing of the alarm system maintenance and the communication that followed the alarm trip. 

The district is also considering student training in the event of a shooting. 

“We are also debriefing the entire process and how, in the event of an actual incident, we can do better, including the rollout of ALICE training for our students as an extension of the staff training that has taken place in the district as an immediate next step,” the statement said.