Though the line for April Fools’ pranks (well, pranks in general) is often blurred, a 58-year-old Kansas woman, Arnthia Willis, provided an example of what constitutes crossing it. So take note of her screw-up and then bookmark it for the purpose of consulting annually/weekly/however frequently you prank people until you’re memorized it.
Willis reportedly phoned a family member (identified by ABC News as her daughter) on Thursday morning to say that she’d been shot. As one might expect a daughter to do, that person dialed ‘911’ and told the operator on the other end that her mother called her, said she was shot, and then hung up. Dispatchers sent a whole team of first responders, consisting of multiple officers, EMS, and some firefighters, to Willis’ Wichita home. These people were going there with the assumption that a shooting was taking place.
“Multiple police units, probably between 15-20 officers from the Wichita Police Department as well as fire department and EMS responded to the scene,” said Wichita police Lt. Ronald Hunt.
The home was surrounded by police, and streets were blocked off. There were attempts to reach whoever may be inside the house. After no one responded the personnel, armed with shields and guns, entered the home. They found it empty.
It was learned that the impetus for the whole ordeal was an April Fools’ joke, and Willis was arrested after she was located in a nearby suburb.
As for what she was charged with, that would be “unlawful request for emergency service assistance.” An investigation remains ongoing.
