Our local 911 dispatchers have been getting a spate of calls talking of gangs attacking innocent victims at Wal-Mart. There is no truth to such rumors whatsoever, according to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.
Indeed, such claims and allegations have been circulating the United States for nearly five years now, and have officially been disproved by Snopes.com. They have a rather rich history of leading people astray and sadly, to shop in fear.
“Their veracity has never been proven and the rumors are deemed not credible,” Sheriff’s spokesman Scott Wilson said in a press release.
Read the full release below.
Local area stores not targets for initiation
Port Orchard, Wash. — Patrol supervisors with the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office
confirm that Internet rumors and cell phone text messages about alleged gang assaults
at local area stores are false.Sheriff’s deputies report an increasing number of calls being received through the
county’s 9-1-1 dispatch system from people worried about stories they’ve heard that
there will be “gang initiations” at local Wal*Mart Stores where unsuspecting store
patrons will be targeted.These reports have come and gone over Internet blog sites for the past several years.
Their veracity has never been proven and the rumors are deemed not credible.Those who contact Kitsap County Central Communications (9-1-1 dispatch) with
requests for law enforcement contact about these rumors will be advised that the
rumors are considered false and should not be taken as a credible threat.Citizens who observe criminal activity in progress should not refrain from requesting law enforcement assistance via the 9-1-1 reporting system.
