Call of shooter at Columbus High is false, but panics kids, parents, school

A false call about a person with a gun on the campus of Christopher Columbus High led to Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies swarming the school Wednesday morning, administrators locking down the classrooms and anguished parents, blocked by a fence, fielding calls from their frightened children hiding in bathrooms or under lunchroom tables.

“She was crying. All the kids are really scared,” Julio Mendoza said of the phone call he just had with his daughter, a senior at St. Brendan High School, which adjoins Columbus along Southwest 87th Avenue, just south of Coral Way.

Sheriff’s deputies gave the two schools the all-clear in the early afternoon, with students running to their parents and getting big bear hugs, or driving away as sheriff’s deputies directed them. Columbus is an all-boys private high school run by the Marist Brothers while St. Brendan is a co-ed Catholic high school.

Before the all-clear, anxious parents descended onto the two schools, talking and texting with their children inside under lockdown. One parent shared a video with a Herald reporter, showing a deputy clearing a classroom of students.

Hide in the bathroom

Carolina Quinones, whose son Benjamin is a freshman at Columbus, said her son was told to run and hide in the women’s bathroom, she said. Benjamin hid there with dozens of other students until deputies told them it was safe to come out. Her son and other students were taken to the cafeteria where they waited to be released.

Mendoza said he was in a meeting when his daughter’s mother called with the news. “I stood up and ran out, without saying anything,” he said. He rushed to St. Brendan’s from Miami Gardens, one of the longest 30-minute drives of his life. His said daughter, an 18-year-old senior, had been eating lunch outside when she was ordered into lockdown.

The father of a St. Brendan student said his daughter called him “screaming and crying” after reports of the shooter came in. His daughter told him the students started running and hiding underneath tables in the cafeteria, he said.

“Right now, we have not found anything,” a deputy told the parents. “We’re checking everything. We’re leaving no stone unturned.”

The saga began when a call came into the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office in the mid-morning about a person on Columbus’ campus armed with a gun, Assistant Sheriff Brian Rafky told reporters at the scene. Deputies quickly responded and cleared Columbus and St. Brendan “ensuring everyone was safe.”

An officer at the scene told a Miami Herald reporter the incident was being investigated as a possible “swatting” or a prank call to law enforcement that leads officers to swarm a scene. Police with long guns walked around the school’s perimeter and armed deputies cruised the campus on golf carts.

‘No threat’

Shortly after noon, the sheriff’s office announced they had found nothing at either of the two schools and were investigating who made the call to Columbus.

“Deputies, along with the Priority Response Team, conducted a thorough search of Columbus and St. Brendan. There was no active shooter and no threat was found. Two students sustained minor injuries while running during the response. The incident was determined to be unfounded after a comprehensive sweep of the campuses. Investigators are continuing to examine how the call was initiated,” the sheriff’s office said in a revised post on X at 12:22 p.m.

Columbus officials then released a statement: “We are grateful for the swift response of law enforcement and thank our students, staff, and families for their patience and cooperation as we followed established safety protocols to ensure the well-being of everyone on campus” Columbus Principal David Pugh and President Thomas Kruczek said.

The sheriff’s office worked with Columbus and St. Brendan and established a family reunification center. “We know this is a scary for parents and people in the community. We have children, and we are part of this community as well,” Rafky said

Parents and kids also heard all kinds of rumors about the incident — there was an armed man on campus, a car full of guns.

“There’s a lot of different stories,” said Quinones, whose son hid in the women’s bathroom at Columbus.

Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office has not answered questions from the Herald about the call. The agency said it was investigating who made the call.

The incident shook up a parent touring St. Brendan with his son. Daniel Orona and his seventh-grade son came from St. Louis to tour the high school. “I have no idea what’s going on,” Orona said, “but I’m not leaving my kid in there.”

At least one student benefitted from his tardiness.

Jose Jacomino, an 18-year-old senior at Columbus, was running late to school Wednesday. He never made it inside. “I was walking here and my mom called and said, ‘Don’t go, don’t go.’” Jacomino said he was “sad, very sad” and worried for his friends, who were on lockdown inside.

After students were told they could leave the school, Gianluca Padilla walked nonchalantly out of Columbus around noon.

“I was hanging out, having fun in class,” said the senior. He and his classmates hunkered down in the corner of the classroom. He says he wasn’t scared. “I’m confident in our resource officers, and when this happened last year, it was a false alarm,” he said. He got in his car to drive home. “I’m just glad this is over.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 11:39 AM.