Dear Southern Village Residents,
I would like to share some information with you in regards to our response to an emergency situation on Highgrove Drive on July 10th 2011.
The Chapel Hill Police Department responded to a call that suggested that hostages were being held at that address and were in imminent danger. As you can imagine, this is one of the most challenging and potentially time-sensitive calls that an agency can address. Our officers followed the proven response protocols for such calls and, thankfully, we were able to determine that the call was a hoax and that there was no risk to the family at the residence or the Southern Village community.
Our subsequent investigation is ongoing, but thus far has revealed the call to be a false report and similar to other kinds of calls that have occurred across the country in recent months. In these cases, anonymous calls suggesting imminent threats have resulted in large police responses. Our continuing investigation suggests that this was such a hoax and it appears to be a random, non-targeted act.
This investigation continues to be a top priority of our department. Given the nature of the call and the manner in which we believe it was made, we fear that the complicated legal and jurisdictional issues may mean we never determine its true origin.
The department has heard from some residents that they were concerned about our response. It is our interest that anyone who has concerns has an opportunity to ask us questions to better understand the incident and why our response was as thorough and comprehensive as it was.
We value the partnership we have with your community and will continue to provide you with all the information we can share, without jeopardizing our investigation.
As more information becomes available, I will share it with your community.
Feel free to call or email me with any questions you may have about this incident.
Sincerely,
Officer Robin Clark
Chapel Hill Police Department
Community Services Division
(919) 969-2068
rclark@townofchapelhill.org