Editorial — Throw the book at whoever made up gun story

SUNDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — The town was all a-Twitter on Friday night as police were out in Sahali looking into a report of a guy with a gun.

The media were on it, filing “we got it first” reports, sending tweeters into a mild frenzy of warnings to be careful out there. Smartphones were buzzing, too, as people sought and exchanged information, trying to find out more about what was going on.

But the whole thing was a hoax. There was no man with a gun. There was no threat to public safety.

So the media had to quickly change their news reports to stories about a false alarm. People were worried for nothing.

Somewhere out there, somebody is probably congratulating himself and thinking he pulled a fine joke. He should go to jail.

The cost of mobilizing police for such an incident will be in the thousands. The public was put through unnecessary stress, of the kind that can cause real harm if people panic. And it could spur copy cats.

Let’s hope whoever this dumb bell gets caught and has the book thrown at him.