12-year-old boy arrested in Minnesota for 'active shooter' prank call

A 12-year-old student at New Prague Middle School was arrested after he made a pair of prank calls indicating a school shooting had taken place early Wednesday.

The young boy was in custody after police responded to two phone calls, made from his cell phone in about five minutes around 8 a.m., in which he said someone had shot two people at the school.

According to the Mankato Free Press, law enforcement from all over the region responded, but found no one hurt at the school.

The school was put in lock-down and classes were canceled for the rest of the day after officials ensured the calls were a hoax. Students were dismissed after 10:30 a.m.

“There was never a time when your children were really in danger," said New Prague School Superintendent Larry Kauzlarich.

Kauzlarich noted that punishment for the student had not yet been determined but a similar incident in which a student called in a fake bomb threat to New Prague High School was expelled.

"It is very frustrating," Kauzlarich said. "We have to take them seriously. Every one of them."

Police said the phone was disabled, capable of making emergency calls only.

New Prague is about 45 miles southwest of the Twin Cities.