Three Tennessee schools are put on lockdown after local dad-to-be fired shots into the air to celebrate gender reveal news that baby will be a boy
A Tennessee father-to-be sent three schools on a brief lockdown after firing three shots during his baby boy's gender reveal celebration.
Murfreesboro Police cited Basem Hanna with unlawful discharging of a firearm inside city limits after the shots were fired around 1.30pm on Wednesday.
A neighbor of Oak Hill Drive called 911 and alerted police of the incident.
Police said Hanna fired the shots from his backyard, before leaving to a store on Lascassas Blvd, where he left the gun.
Hanna told police he wasn't aware he couldn't fire the gun inside city limits and didn't intent to harm anyone, as he was just trying to celebrate the news of his child being a boy.
'There was a language barrier, so with the help of a translator from Middle Tennessee State University, officers explained to Hanna that he couldn't fire his handgun in his back yard which is within city limits,' said Public Information Officer Larry Flowers, 'He had no intent to harm anyone.'
Oakland High and Middle schools went on precautionary lockdown amid fears of an active shooter in the area.
The lockdown was lifted shortly after, once officers realized the shots had been fired by the expectant father, who was on a call with relatives in Egypt, telling them about the good news.
'During the phone call the expectant father stepped outside and fired celebratory rounds into the air and the expectant mother screamed out of excitement of the news of a baby boy,'
Officers locked down nearby schools as a precaution as they sorted out the situation,' police said.
Murfreesboro police released a statement revealing that father-to-be, Basem Hanna fired shots during a gender reveal celebration, which led to three nearby schools going on lockdown
Oakland High and Middle Schools went on lockdown after the fires were shot
Police initially believed there was an active shooter in the area, but when they figured out who had shot the fires, the lockdown was lifted
After Murfreesboro police released the statement on Facebook, many users shared their opinions on the incident.
'What goes up must come down. He should not be allowed to now lawfully carry that gun. And for the record, I'm not anti-gun. I'm just anti those who abuse ownership,' Amy Hindman commented on the post.
Some hoped the parents were more careful for the sake of the yet-to-be-born baby.
Mike McQueen said: ' I hope he has better sense raising a child!'
Other voiced their frustration at gender reveal parties.
'Good grief with the gender reveal madness!' said Beth Waters.
In recent years, gender reveal parties have become popular amongst expectant parents, who often display over the top celebrations to mark the finding of their babies' gender.
The unidentified Tennessee father is the last to join a trend of gender reveal parties gone wrong.
Social media users voiced their frustrations at the lengths some parents go with gender reveal parties, often causing harm to themselves, guests or bystanders
Amy Hindman condemned the Hanna's actions, adding that he should not be allowed to carry a gun
Chasity Garret questioned the Murfreesboro Police citation for the man, suggesting that reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon aligned more with what the man had done
Beth Waters voiced her frustration at famous trend of gender reveal parties
In July, the couple whose gender reveal party sparked a wildfire in California that killed a firefighter and burned more than 22,000 acres was charged with involuntary manslaughter, three felony counts of recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury, four felony counts of recklessly causing a fire to inhabited structures and 22 various misdemeanor counts related to the fire.
Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. and Angela Renee Jimenez pleaded not guilty to charges involving the El Dorado Fire which killed firefighter Charles Morton, 39.
Thirteen other people were injured and five homes were destroyed.
The El Dorado Fire erupted on September 5 when the couple and their young children staged a baby gender reveal at El Dorado Ranch Park in Yucaipa, at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains.
A smoke-generating pyrotechnic device was set off in a field and quickly ignited dry grass on a scorching day. The couple frantically tried to use bottled water to douse the flames and called 911, but strong winds stoked the fire as it ran through wilderness on national forest land, about 75 miles east of Los Angeles.
The blaze blackened nearly 36 square miles of land in San Bernardino and Riverside counties before it was finally extinguished on November 16.
Firefighter Charles Morton, 39, was killed battling the blaze. Morton had worked as a firefighter for 18 years mostly with the U.S. Forest Service
CREEK FIRE: Firefighter Ricardo Gomez sets a controlled burn with a drip torch while fighting the Creek Fire in Shaver Lake, California last September
GLASS FIRE: A woman wearing flame-resistant clothing photographs an airplane as it drops red fire retardant on the Glass Fire at a vineyard in Deer Park, California last September
And in April, a gender reveal party sparked fears of an earthquake when it shook entire towns on the New Hampshire-Massachusetts boarder, after 80lb of explosives were employed and caused a massive blast.
Anthony Spinelli, a 28-year-old Kingston, New Hampshire man, pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge stemming from the explosion that was heard by nearby residents in the two states.
Residents had complained that the foundations to their homes were damaged after the shockwaves rattled properties within a 20-mile radius of the Torromeo quarry.
The explosives were set off with blue chalk to announce a baby boy, according to police.
Jenna Karvunidis, the self-proclaimed inventor of gender reveal parties, has pleaded with expectant parents to stop risking their lives and others over this types of celebration.
'For the love of God, stop burning things down to tell everyone about your kid's penis. No one cares but you,' Karvunidis wrote in a post 2020.
'Excuse me for having a cake for my family in 2008,
'Just because I'm the gEnDeR rEvEaL iNVeNtoR doesn't mean I think people should burn down their communities. STOP,' she added.
The shockwaves caused by the gender reveal explosion were so strong that this video doorbell visibly shook
Residents who live near the property claim that the explosion was so powerful that it has caused structural damage to the foundations of their properties
The force of the explosion was so large that its shockwave could be felt over state lines in Massachusetts
Cops in Kingston, a New Hampshire town not far from the Massachusetts border, received a flurry of 911 calls from terrified homeowners after shockwaves rattled properties within a 20-mile radius of the Torromeo quarry
Law enforcement experts say 80 pounds of Tannerite is enough to cause substantial damage to a house. Pictured: Kingston Police Department
Officers in Kingston, a town not far from the Massachusetts border, received reports of a loud explosion on Tuesday evening around 7pm. They responded to Torromeo quarry where they found people who acknowledged they were holding a gender reveal party with explosives