False rumors about gunshots fired at a South Carolina high school spread on social media

An Aug. 28 Facebook post reported some parents’ worst fear — a school shooting — as reality. 

"Shots fired T.L Hanna High School 1 seriously injured 1 may be pronounced dead on the scene…" the Aug. 28 Facebook post said, mispunctuating Anderson, South Carolina’s T.L. Hanna High School.    

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Kyle Newton, an assistant superintendent with Anderson School District 5, which includes the high school,, told PolitiFact the post is untrue. 

Featured Fact-check

Instagram posts

stated on March 28, 2024 in an Instagram post

Three rockets NASA is launching during the April 8 solar eclipse is “a ritual causing mass psychosis.”

He said the same account shared other unfounded rumors about the district, including that two people were dead at an elementary school and two were dead at a middle school. 

The district and the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office posted a statement Aug. 28 on Facebook to rebut the "fabricated posts of false incidents."

"No school in Anderson Five is experiencing any situation, and the sheriff’s office is actively investigating the origins of these social media posts," the statement said. 

We rate claims that gunshots were fired and someone was injured at this South Carolina high school False.