Gunfire scare at Hilsman Middle School

By Joe Johnson

Students and faculty at Hilsman Middle School on Thursday experienced a scare when they heard what they thought might be a gunshot at or near the Gaines School Road campus.

Upon hearing the loud noise shortly before 8 a.m. some students ran away from the direction of the sound and administrators ushered them into the safety of the building.

After interviewing witnesses and studying video surveillance footage police officers came up with ideas for what could have produced the loud noise that the students described, one of which being an electrical transformer.

A police supervisor tracked down a Georgia Power truck that had been seen in the area and learned that the driver had been dispatched to repair a blown transformer near the school.

The time the utility crew was dispatched corresponded with the time of the mystery noise.