NORCROSS, Ga. — A Norcross mother is calling for accountability after a hoax call describing an armed man making threats at her son’s high school sent police racing onto campus with guns drawn and ended with her 17-year-old on the ground in the parking lot.
Yesenia Nava said she did not get the lockdown alert that went out to Norcross High School parents around 11 a.m. Monday until later that evening.
She told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson that she found out her son had been detained briefly when cell phone video of her son being pulled from his car started circulating in parent group chats.
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“I saw the video afterwards,” Nava said. “That’s when I started coming over here because I recognized my son’s car.”
Norcross police were racing across campus with guns drawn after someone called in a report of a man threatening to open fire. Nava’s 17-year-old son had just pulled into the parking lot when he called her to describe what he was seeing.
“I told my son, ‘Just leave,’” Nava said. “If you see a lot of cops and you see pistols, just leave the area.”
Before he could drive off, officers had him at gunpoint.
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“He followed every instruction,” Nava said. “They pinned him down and that’s where they put the handcuffs on him.”
The call turned out to be a “swatting” call, the second one reported at a Gwinnett County school this month. Police said they had to detain and clear Nava’s son before confirming he was not a threat to students inside the building.
“For them they think it might be a joke, but for us it’s something serious,” Nava said. “If my kid would’ve ended up hurt just because of a prank, I mean a lot of thoughts are in my mind.”
The investigation into who made the call is ongoing.
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