Schools

'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' Song Causes Lockdown at Nearby Ambridge High School

Police respond after a Sewickley receptionist misinterprets lyrics from the sitcom's theme song in a student's cell phone message.

A Sewickley receptionist misinterpreted an Ambridge High School student's cell phone greeting from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air sitcom, which led to a 20-minute school lockdown on Thursday, according to the Beaver County Times.

Ambridge police said Thursday night that the incident was just a big misunderstanding.

The Times reports that a receptionist from a Sewickley eye doctor's office called 19-year-old Travis Clawson of Economy to remind him about an upcoming appointment and misinterpreted his voice mail greeting as a threat about "shooting people outside of the school." 

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The line from the 1990s Will Smith show's theme song refers to "shooting some b-ball outside of the school."

The receptionist called Sewickley police, who in turn contacted Ambridge Area School District officials.

Find out what's happening in Sewickleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

When Ambridge schools passed along the information, according to the Times, a countywide schools lockdown was ordered because no one knew where Clawson was at the moment, and the Beaver County 911 response system is designed to notify all schools of a situation.

The newspaper said Clawson told police during an interview his message was just him imitating the sitcom's rap intro.

Beaver County District Attorney Anthony Berosh told the Times that after listening to the message closely, Clawson, who had been escorted from school, was released without charges filed.

Ambridge Area Superintendent Erv Weischedel sent a letter home notifying parents and commending local authorities for taking extra precautions.

"While this situation can be considered to be a false alarm, it was an excellent opportunity to test our emergency procedures," Weischedel wrote.

The Times reports that Clawson's family has consulted an attorney.

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