HARRISBURG – New felony criminal penalties would be imposed for falsely reporting emergency threats directed towards any educational facility in PA under a measure being proposed by Crawford County Sen. Michele Brooks. In her co-sponsorship memo, Brooks said in the tragic wake of the recent Nashville school shooting that took the lives of six people, hoax callers falsely alerted law enforcement agencies of active school shooter situations in multiple counties across our state. The calls triggered a massive emergency response, creating perilous conditions for students, teachers, and public safety agencies alike. She added that the added stress on schools, communities, emergency responders, and law enforcement officers to respond to these specific and dangerous false reports require a commensurate response in our criminal statute. It only makes sense to add the perpetrators of these abhorrent hoax calls to that list.
SEN. MICHELE BROOKS