A high schooler in Maryland has been accused of faking his own kidnapping during a Zoom class prompting his teacher to call the police.
The 11th grader at Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg pulled the elaborate prank on Thursday during his virtual honors history lesson that startled the teacher into horror.
Once the teenager turned his camera on, his teacher saw a man in a black ski mask “waving what appeared to be a gun,” said a statement made by the school officials
Alarmed at what appeared to be unfolding over the screen, the teacher did what was viable at the time and alerted administrators, who called the cops and the teen’s family.
Montgomery County police officers found that the alleged masked-intruder was actually a friend of the student who he had invited over to carry out the prank and the apparent weapon was just an airsoft gun.
“The story basically is that we had a case of kids being kids,” police spokeswoman Rebecca Innocent said while adding that cops found no crime had been committed.
Elizabeth Thomas, the principal of the school called the prank a “serious incident” and asked parents to warn their kids about not pulling any kinds shenanigans during Zoom school. It is already a challenge to conduct classes and carry out education procedure over other means due to the pandemic and online classes are being carried out overcoming too many obstacles.
“This incident serves as a reminder about the importance of speaking to your child(ren) about appropriate behavior while engaged in virtual learning,” Thomas said.