A man who publicly stated to many news outlets that he survived the shooting at Santa Fe High School in 2018 was actually making it all up, officials say.
The man, using the fake name David Briscoe, represented himself as a substitute teacher caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. He used social media to reach out to reporters and relay his tale.
He was quoted in Time, the Wall Street Journal, and CNN, among others, describing in great detail the “very, very loud” gunshots and the screams he heard from students. The news organizations since removed their references of Briscoe.
“We are extremely disappointed that an individual that has never been a part of our school community would represent themselves as a survivor of the mass violence tragedy that our community endured,” said Leigh Wall, Santa Fe ISD Superintendent. “This situation illustrates how easily misinformation can be created and circulated, especially when the amount of detailed information available is limited due to the still ongoing investigation.”
Receiving praise and being referred to as a “hero,” the man sustained the elaborate hoax for about a year until the Texas Tribune looked further into some of his claims, including that he was teaching a remedial English course at the time.
James Roy, a lieutenant for the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office who investigated the massacre, said the office has no record of Briscoe, and his claim that the gunshots were “very, very loud” were not cohesive or plausible based on his alleged location that he described.
“If he was anywhere other than [the hallway the shooting occurred], I don’t think he could’ve heard anything but the fire alarm,” said Roy. He said the shots were contained to the art classrooms, and there were no English classes in the area.
“Just knowing that there’s blood on the walls where you walk at … I don’t think I could go back,” Briscoe said in his tale.
John Bridges, the executive editor for the Austin American-Statesman, which also quoted Briscoe, said the situation is “sick and said.”
“Reporters can face significant reporting hurdles in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy and some people unfortunately attempt to take advantage of those situations and try to dupe reporters,” he said.
