2 accidental 911 calls made from Madison elementary schools in same afternoon
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the 911 call from Burton Elementary School.
REXBURG — Local law enforcement responded to two elementary schools in Madison School District 321 in two separate incidents after 911 calls were made by mistake.
In the first incident, deputies from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Rexburg Police Department, responded to South Fork Elementary School on Wednesday just after 12:20 p.m.
“We had a 911 call. A child called 911 and then hung up. It wasn’t from the school’s actual number, but it was from a cell phone, and we couldn’t get the number to answer when we called it back,” said Sgt. Isaac Payne, a spokesman with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies showed up and found out that a child had called 911 by mistake. Law enforcement followed safety protocols and cleared all the rooms, made sure everyone was accounted for and was safe.
“We would rather be safe than sorry, especially in today’s world. You just have to make sure,” Payne said.
In the second incident, the Rexburg Police Department responded with help of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office to Burton Elementary School around the same time Wednesday to an open 911 call with children screaming in the background. Officers quickly responded and confirmed it was an accidental 911 call made by an adult.
“Some of these new cell phones, you can push the side — the power button — twice, and it will call 911. People could just be cognizant of the operations of their phone. Of course, we are going to take the precautions necessary. On an open 911 call, we will respond,” said Gary Hagen, the assistant chief with the Rexburg Police Department.