Deputies say robocall caused active shooter alarm at David Lawrence Center

Answers are finally coming in about the call that triggered a massive police response at a counseling center in Collier County last week, and had the whole community alarmed for an active shooter.

It was just revealed that an accident triggered the active shooter alarm, and there will be no arrest for the incident happening.

When the false threat happened, investigators say a Lehigh Acres man called the David Lawrence Center’s alert system six times that day. They believe one of the calls likely set off the active shooter alarm.

The man told deputies he did not mean to call the center and activate the alarm, but he was trying to call a robo caller back.

After pressing numbers and disconnecting, the caller reported the scam call to the fraud hotline.

“[It’s] something that kind of spun out of control and is extremely unusual,” said South Florida Tech Group CEO Christian Wartchow.

After reading the release sent out by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Wartchow says it’s absolutely possible. How? A scammer spoofed a number connected to the David Lawrence Center, which is the number the man kept calling.

But Wartchow still has questions.

“The biggest mystery is why did multiple calls to that number…trigger the text alert to the employees of the David Lawrence Center,” he said.

As unbelievable as it is, Wartchow says it could happen again. He says hopefully, legislation against scammers will stop this.

“I think this is kind of a one-off, I hope, but I caution everybody,” he said.

Deputies are now working to see if this has any connection to an incident at Chico’s in Lee County, where a false alarm triggered a massive response back in July.