The Fresh Prince may have left the rap game behind, but his lyrics still throw people into a frenzy. Sometimes it's not for the best.
Last Thursday, Beaver County schools in Western Pennsylvania were put on lockdown after the receptionist for a local eye doctor mistook a student rattling off lyrics to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's theme song on his voicemail, for a mass shooting threat.
The garbled voice mail included the lines “shooting some b-ball outside of the school,” leading the eye doctor's receptionist to assume the student was planning to shoot some people outside of his school. Yes, this actually happened. The receptionist immediately contacted authorities who began searching for the 19-year-old student, Travis Clawson.
Clawson was later found in the guidance of a guidance counselor’s office in Ambridge High School.
Police “swarmed” Clawson and took him into custody. The teen said he meant no harm when he was imitating Will Smith.
Local District Attorney Anthony Berosh confirmed that Clawson was imitating the rap song, and was released without being charged. — All Hip Hop
In the aftermath of the most vicious domestic school shooting in recent history, it's understandable that educators, law enforcement and communities are on edge, but how out of touch are these people that this misunderstanding went that high up the food chain before anybody noticed that this allegedly threatening message was quoting the nicest rapper of the '90s? How are kids supposed to get a respectable public school education when the adults around them are this inept? Book smarts are important, but a little common sense could have done some good here as well. Parents are the same, no matter time nor place; take it from Will, parents just don't understand.
