ELYRIA — An Elyria youth was arrested Tuesday after allegedly making a prank call that claimed a child had been shot in the head at Northwood Middle School.

The youth was charged with inducing panic, making false alarms and unlawful use of a telecommunications device, according to Elyria police. Police didn’t say whether the youth was a Northwood student.

Five police cars were sent to Northwood at 2:35 p.m. after the call came in to 911. The school was searched, but nothing was found.

School was already dismissed when the call came in, said Elyria Schools spokeswoman Amy Higgins, so there were few students in the building. Since it was the day before the Thanksgiving break, the school had had rapid dismissal. Most of the students remaining in the school when the call came were practicing with the basketball and wrestling teams.

The school did go into lockdown, Higgins said.

Two students said independently of each other Tuesday afternoon that this was not the first time this sort of prank call had happened.

Contact Melissa Hebert at 329-7129 or mhebert@chroniclet.com.

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