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Fear—Then Anger

Community Expresses Frustration Over Monday’s Armed Man Hoax

Story by Anna Oakes

The Boone community is still talking about the fabricated story of an armed man on the Appalachian State University campus that resulted in a campuswide lockdown, a frenzy of state and local media and an atmosphere of fear.

On Monday, police responded to a call from ASU student Matthew Haney, who reported that he had walked in on a masked man attempting to steal his television. Haney said the man pointed a small pistol at him, and both men fled the apartment, located near Hill Street behind the Holmes Convocation Center.

Haney described the man as wearing a black mask, black Pink Floyd shirt, dark jacket, red and green tennis shoes and blue jeans. He said the suspect fled into the woods.

Because of the apartment’s proximity to campus and a report that a man fitting the description had been seen on campus, ASU administrators ordered the campus into its first lockdown in history, while police searched for a man fitting Haney’s description.

The man was never found, and on Tuesday, Boone Police announced that Haney admitted that morning to fabricating the story. According to police, Haney discovered damage to his apartment door and created the story of an armed burglar so he would not be held responsible for paying for the damage. He did not intend to cause the lockdown, police said.

The news of the hoax has drawn the ire of students and community members alike.

As of Wednesday, more than 1,000 people had joined groups on Facebook, a popular social networking website, expressing disdain and frustration for Haney and for Monday’s incident.

“I was standing outside of Walker [Hall] during the lockdown, nervous as s*** because I thought I could get shot,” wrote one member of a Facebook group.

And on GoBlueRidge.net, message board responses include “This was unexcusable,” “This is a serious thing,” and “I don’t think public humiliation is enough. He cost the Boone PD, ASU PD, everyone a lot of wasted time and money.”

But others posting to these online communities have cautioned against hatred and alienation. One comment on a Watauga Democrat blog reads, “I without a doubt think that this young man should be punished for his actions. I also agree with those who say he should be kicked out of school. I don't, however, think people should continue to bash him. I think this will make the situation turn into something so much worse! I agree with the above comment, that we should pray for him, and this community. How is verbal abusing and threatening going to help end violence?!?!?! It won’t!”

Police say Haney faces a charge of filing a false police report, a misdemeanor.