Gender Reveal Causes Tennessee Schools To Lock Down

A father-to-be celebrating his unborn child inadvertently sent multiple Middle Tennessee schools into lockdown on Wednesday (September 1).

A family inside Murfreesboro city limits was on the phone with other family members to share the happy news that they are expecting a baby boy, News Channel 5 reports. According to Murfreesboro Police Department spokesperson Larry Flowers, the expectant father fired celebratory shots into the air around 1:30 p.m. while the mother screamed her excitement over the phone.

The news, however, led one neighbor to call 911 after they heard shots and and a scream. Following reports of shots fired nearby, Rutherford County Schools temporarily locked down Oakland High School and Oakland Middle School out of precaution. Fortunately, the lockdown was lifted quickly and the schools could resume their normal schedules once police determined the cause of the shots.

The father was issued a citation from officers for unlawfully discharging a firearm inside city limits.

Gender reveal parties have become a common practice in the last few years, with expectant parents coming up with new and exciting ways to announce if they are having a boy or a girl. However, some reveals have gone too far and even led to disasters and death, including a party that sparked the deadly El Dorado wildfire in California last year.