“Basically she had called her sister and said something to the effect of a guy was fired yesterday and has come back in with a gun. We are all hiding in a locked office and asked her to call the police,” Clark said.
Clark said deputies conducted a sweep of buildings and found there was “no security threat of any kind at any time.”
“Everyone was completely fine,” Clark said. “There was a lot of resources that we used today and put in place today all over a stupid April Fools’ joke.”
Representatives of Navistar confirmed to the Springfield News-Sun that “an employee” has been suspended over the claim. The truck manufacturer said they continue to work with local authorities regarding an investigation into the incident.
A number of different agencies from across the county reached out to assist the sheriff’s office when they heard the call about a potential shooter, Clark said.
“We want to thank everyone who backed us up,” Clark said. “We had a lot of great resources from other agencies that were willing to step up.”