Melanie Ann Hendrick

BUCKEYE — A woman has been arrested in the Phoenix suburb of Buckeye on suspicion of making a false 911 call that locked down an elementary school, panicked parents and tied up police resources for more than an hour, authorities say.

The Buckeye Police Department says it received a 911 call about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday from a woman claiming a man with a shotgun was walking around Bales Elementary School in the city about 30 miles west of Phoenix. The school was placed on lockdown and police officers did not find a gunman or weapon.

Detectives investigating several residential burglaries determined the caller's voice sounded like a woman they talked with at a home nearby that morning and arrested 27-year-old Melanie Ann Hendrick in the afternoon.


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