The family of a 12-year-old boy with special needs publicly apologized Monday for their son, who set off a panic at a New Prague school last month when he falsely reported that a shooter was in the middle school.
The parents provided a formal public apology for the "inappropriate and thoughtless actions of our son" and asked for the community's forgiveness. The family's attorney, Marsh Halberg, describe the boy as a "soft-spoken, quiet and polite young man" who is a special-needs child adopted from the Ukraine. Halberg said the boy found a discarded cellphone of his parents and called 911 because he likes "police cars and their flashing lights."
The parents showed their son video and newspaper accounts, describing the terror felt by the families affected by the hoax. The boy, in a handwritten letter, apologized to the parents and children for "scaring you" and the emergency workers and school officials for wasting their time and money.
"Can you please forgive me?" he wrote. "I promise I will never in my life do this again!"
Mary Lynn Smith
