Holy intruding imposter, Batman
School lockdown no joke
by Kathleen Stinson

CCUSD – A Desert Arroyo Middle School prank resulted in the school going into lockdown for nearly an hour Valentine’s Day morning.

The lockdown was instituted immediately after a Desert Arroyo student reported to school security seeing a 6‑foot, 3‑inch male dressed in a Batman costume running across campus, according to Sgt. Mark Clark, spokesman for the Scottsdale Police Department.

Later in the day, Dr. Tacy Ashby, superintendent of Cave Creek Unified School District, issued a statement explaining that the reported intruder on campus was a hoax.

“The Desert Arroyo intruder incident from earlier today proved to be the result of false reporting by a student. We discovered this during the school’s ongoing investigation today,” stated the district release sent out to all students’ families, as well as staff and media.

Initiating a report known to be false could result in a charge of false reporting, a Class 1 misdemeanor–except that a second or subsequent violation is a Class 6 felony. A person  convicted of false reporting is liable for expenses incurred incident to the emergency response or the investigation of false reporting.

Scottsdale PD received a call about 8:30 a.m. from its school resource officer reporting the incident and the school went into lockdown mode, Clark said. The school officer and a patrol officer who responded to the scene searched the campus for an intruder but found none. The school reopened about 45 minutes later.

“Appropriate school and disciplinary measures will be followed,” Ashby stated in the release.