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False active shooter alarm in Lancaster puts community on edge

Posted at 12:35 AM, Dec 17, 2012
and last updated 2012-12-17 07:57:10-05

LANCASTER COUNTY , VA (WTVR) -- Lancaster County was thrown into hysteria Sunday afternoon following reports of a shooter inside Lancaster County Primary School.

"We were watching a football game and some lady came to the door with scissors in her hand out of breath and said call 9-1-1," Tay Betts, a neighbor of the school, said.

Lancaster County Sheriff Officers immediately responded to the scene, quickly discovering it was a false alarm. According to the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office, the woman who demanded the police be called is a teacher at the primary school.

She heard an unfamiliar voice in the school and, despite it being a Sunday, believed there was a gunman in the building. It turned out the unfamiliar voice belonged to the husband of a school employee.

"Everyone is on edge," Phyllis Reynolds, a Lancaster resident active in the school district said. "The Newtown Shooting has people - parents and educators - very scared."