Photo Credit: Jaromir Chalabala // Shutterstock

A county sheriff reports that the active shooter at Topsail High School turned out to be malfunctioning water heater. News reports quote Pender County emergency management director Tom Collins as saying that noise from the water heater was taken for the sound of gunfire at Topsail High School on Friday morning.

The reporter of shots fired provoked a massive response by law enforcement and cause the school district to reroute buses and put schools on lockdown.

Deputies did find an HVAC unit that was malfunctioning and making sounds similar to gunshots.

Source: WNCT

Written By: Fantasia Harvey