A text message hoax is making the rounds throughout Wichita Falls. The phony message, sent primarily to cell phones, has even come across our own message system as well as the cell phones of some of our drivers and dispatchers. The Wichita Falls Police Department had this to say about the hoax:
Release # 09-03-002
A text message you may have received about a gang initiation is believed to be a hoax. The Wichita Falls Police Department and local media outlets have been inundated with inquiries about the bogus text message. In the text, the sender claims persons will be shot outside a local retailer as part of a gang initiation.
The Department’s Public Information Office has learned the message has actually been around since 2005 when internet e-mails began to circulate about the event. However, over the last two days the cell phone message has circulated in about a dozen states including Texas, California, Florida and Delaware. Locally, the message says the information was somehow “confirmed” by local authorities. That statement is absolutely false.
Technology such as e-mails and text messages are difficult to trace. However, messages about future acts of violence could lead to criminal charges if the sender knew the message to be a hoax.
