Teen prankster started 'Louisville Purge' hoax: police
The unnamed teenager thought it would be funny to circulate rumors of a 12-hour crime spree, but as 80,000 people tuned into an online police scanner, nothing happened — not even the alleged giraffe running loose in the Kentucky city.
'The Purge: Anarchy' is a film in which emergency services are suspended for 12 hours each year to rid the nation of violent crime.
Despite claims on social media, the “Louisville Purge” scheduled for Friday was a hoax.
The rumor stemmed from a teen prankster who thought it would be funny
to tweet about Kentucky authorities allowing crime to run rampant for
one night only, according to a Courier Journal report.
A poster that circulated Instagram, Twitter and Facebook in the past
week said the alleged Louisville Purge would start at 8 p.m. on Friday
and continue until 6:30 a.m. Saturday.
The hoaxed produced nary a violent crime, but Louisville Metro Police
had a word with the teen who started the whole debacle anyway.
The teen’s wannabe purge was inspired by a film titled “The Purge,”
where in its fictional world ruled by a totalitarian government,
emergency services were suspended for 12 hours each year to rid the
nation of violent crime.
“We’re going to take any threat that we receive seriously, particularly
one that encourages and incites violence against our community,” police spokesman Phil Russell told WAVE-TV.
The teen has since apologized for his prank, and said he understands his actions stirred up some panic in his beloved hometown.
“I didn’t think it would really get that serious,” the unnamed student
told the Louisville TV station. “It was wrong for me to do that.”
He started the rumors by tweeting "Whos trying get a Louisville Purge started with me?" on Aug. 10 at 8:30 p.m.,according to duPont Manual High School's newspaper.
The teen has not been identified because he will not be charged with a
crime, but his hoax turned into a legitimate concern for local schools
and authorities.
There was one football scrimmage rescheduled for Saturday morning
because of the threats circulating on Twitter, and extra police patrols
were ordered in the metro area and neighboring communities, according to
Journal and WAVE-TV reports.
As 80,000 people tuned into an online police scanner, several fake
reports of a giraffe being freed from the Louisville Zoo made the rounds
on Twitter.
SURVEILLANCE VIDEO: Police say Michael Brown was suspect in Ferguson store robbery
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) - A suburban St.
Louis police chief on Friday identified the officer whose fatal shooting
of an unarmed black teenager ignited days of heated protests, and
released documents alleging the teen was killed after a robbery in which
he was suspected of stealing a $48.99 box of cigars.
Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson released several police reports and documents during a news conference where he also identified the officer involved as Darren Wilson, who has been on administrative leave since he shot 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9.
Brown and his friend, Dorian Johnson, were suspected of taking a box of cigars from a convenience store in Ferguson that morning, according to police reports. Jackson said Wilson went to the area after a 911 call reporting a "strong-arm" robbery just before noon. He said a dispatcher gave a description of the robbery suspect, and Wilson, who had been assisting on another call, was sent to investigate.
Wilson, a six-year veteran of the police department, encountered Brown just after 12:01 p.m., with a second officer arriving three minutes later, Jackson said. Police later said Wilson did not know Brown was a robbery suspect.
Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson released several police reports and documents during a news conference where he also identified the officer involved as Darren Wilson, who has been on administrative leave since he shot 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9.
Brown and his friend, Dorian Johnson, were suspected of taking a box of cigars from a convenience store in Ferguson that morning, according to police reports. Jackson said Wilson went to the area after a 911 call reporting a "strong-arm" robbery just before noon. He said a dispatcher gave a description of the robbery suspect, and Wilson, who had been assisting on another call, was sent to investigate.
Wilson, a six-year veteran of the police department, encountered Brown just after 12:01 p.m., with a second officer arriving three minutes later, Jackson said. Police later said Wilson did not know Brown was a robbery suspect.
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