Buckeye woman arrested for false 911 call that prompted school lockdown
Nov 29, 2018, 2:59 PM | Updated: 4:19 pm
(Buckeye police photo)
PHOENIX — A Buckeye woman was arrested for making a false 911 call that prompted the lockdown of a nearby elementary school.
The Buckeye Police Department announced Wednesday that 27-year-old Melanie Hendrick was behind bars for telling emergency officials that there was a man with a shotgun walking around Bales Elementary School the day prior.
The ensuing search for the alleged suspect near Miller and Maricopa roads involved Buckeye police, SWAT members and undercover officers, tying up police resources for more than an hour.
No suspect was ever found and the lockdown on the school was eventually lifted.
Detectives tied Hendrick to the incident based off the voice on the 911 call.
Before the call was made around 8:30 a.m., detectives were at Hendrick’s home near the school to follow up on a recent string of residential burglaries.
Hendrick admitted to making the call and said she did so to divert detectives away from her home because she had information on the burglaries.