PANAMA CITY BEACH — Students and police had a harrowing morning after a suspect in a hit and run fled on foot near Arnold High School and Breakfast Point Academy.
As police searched for the man they ordered Arnold and Breakfast Point locked down. Just as they believed they had tracked the suspect west and away from the schools, police received word that a classroom at Breakfast Point was being held hostage by a man with a gun, according to Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman.
Police immediately pulled back and mobilized their SWAT team. However, it turned out the hostage threat was a false rumor begun by a miscommunication between a child and a parent, Whitman said.
Police have not yet captured the suspect, but they no longer believe he is near the schools and the lockdown has been lifted, Whitman said.