I-TEAM: Body cam shows how deputies responded to Westside High hoax

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Unfortunately, our schools are no strangers to threats and hoaxes.

In Nov. 2022, deputies, swat officers, a bomb squad, and first responders rushed to Westside High School after an active shooter was reported.

We now know this was a hoax, but the responding officers did not know that as they rushed to the scene.

It was as close to a real school shooting call as deputies could get in Richmond County and it’s the first time we’re seeing how they respond, firsthand.

This body cam shows us the urgency law enforcement has during these calls.

“12, I’m about a minute out.”

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This is the body cam of a Richmond County Deputy responding to Westside High School.

Rushing through traffic on Washington Road and preparing his rifle, Sheriff Richard Roundtree said the 911 center received a call at 10:32 a.m. reporting an active shooter at Westside High School with five people injured.

This deputy is one of the first deputies at the school, running into an unknown situation.

He and another deputy both start clearing rooms,

“Everything ok in here? Lock the door.”

After a quick sweep, both deputies try and locate who made the call for shots fired.

“You heard shots?”

They quickly found out there was no active shooter.

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• Silent alarms within the Augusta Fire Department

The sheriff’s office tells us they hold annual active shooter training, so they’re ready if a real situation is called in.

Deputies met with a school resource officer on scene who also responded to the call.

After the Westside incident, Sheriff Roundtree told us this is what they’re trained to do and it all goes back to training.

When this incident happened there was a school resource officer on the scene.

Richmond County tells us they have 34, but can’t say which school they’re assigned to.

We do know there’s a school resource officer in every middle and high school.

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