Disturbing Facebook post targeting Boeing employees debunked by Snohomish sheriff’s office
Feb 24, 2016, 6:28 AM | Updated: 8:53 am
The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office confirmed a Facebook post circulating social media this week is a hoax. (AP)
(AP)
A Facebook post that went viral gave a very specific, disturbing warning this week.
A “Boeing employee was driving to work at 5 AM, heading West on 112th Street in Everett when a pedestrian dressed in all black walked out in the middle of the road,” the post reads.
As the Boeing employee slammed on his brakes, a group of men (also dressed in all black) ran out of the bushes and tried to pry his car doors open.”
The post went on to say this appeared to be a “set up.”
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Shari Ireton with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office looked into it.
“The first thing I did was go into dispatch,” she explained. “So all the calls that we’ve been dispatched to in that area … I couldn’t find anything that matched – even close – to that incident.”
Next, Ireton reached out to other agencies to see if they’d heard reports of anything like this.
“By the end of last week my only conclusion could be that maybe it happened but nobody reported it to police, which sounds very odd, but occasionally does happen,” she said.
When a second post came out Tuesday, Ireton says she heard from a deputy who had been in contact with Boeing security. That’s when they determined the Facebook post was a hoax.
“They were able to basically say ‘this is a rumor,'” Ireton said. After following up on every lead they could find, law enforcement determined that nothing like what was described in the post took place.
However, not everyone is convinced it is a hoax. Comments on the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page elude to similar incidents happening, though many comments just ask people in the area to be cautious.
Ireton says people shouldn’t believe everything they read on the Internet. If someone has a question about what they see, she suggest they contact law enforcement to get accurate information, rather than “acting on rumors and hoaxes.”
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