OC school district issued robocall to quell lockdown rumors

From staff reports

A robocall was initiated Wednesday by Oil City High School principal Scott Stahl to dispel rumors of a lockdown in response to a threat.

The automated message explained that an incident had occurred last week, that school personnel had worked with police to address the situation and that no real danger had been found.

Oil City Superintendent Pat Gavin said the decision was made to issue the robocall because of rampant rumors that an incident had occurred Wednesday at the high school.

“The rumor was going around that we were on lockdown today and we were getting calls,” Gavin said Wednesday. “Teachers from other buildings were hearing that the high school was on lockdown.”

Gavin said the rumor may have been a result of speculation about last week’s incident combined with misunderstanding the robocall.

Oil City police chief Bob Wenner confirmed that an incident involving terroristic threats occurred last Thursday but that there was no lockdown.

“At no time during this incident were there any weapons in or around school property,” Wenner said in a news release. “Had any immediate danger existed, the public would have been contacted with how to respond to the situation.”