While trying to catch three teenage boys who fired a shot from their car into a crowd of teens early Sunday, West Palm Beach police got word that an officer was down.
Scores of police officers, dogs and helicopters immediately flooded Roosevelt Full Service Center in the 1600 block of Tamarind Avenue to look for an injured officer.
A youth made up the story after picking up a police radio dropped by off-duty Officer Troy Marchese at the school while chasing the boys who fired the gun.
"He thought it would be cute if he said he had been shot," West Palm Beach Lt. Charles Reed said.
The trouble started about 2:10 a.m. when a teen dance was breaking up at the school. As people were leaving, three teenagers who attended the dance drove up in a white Crown Victoria and shot at somebody in the crowd. None of the bystanders was hit.
Marchese, who provided security at the dance, called in the shooting and chased the car through the parking lot. The teens drove north on Australian Avenue, ran a red light at Blue Heron Boulevard and hit another car, a white Chevy Malibu.
Two of the teens jumped out of the Crown Victoria and fled while another was caught in the car. Police were able to grab one of the fleeing youths after a short foot chase. The third one got away. One of the teenagers in the car suffered minor injuries from the car accident and was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center. The driver of the second vehicle wasn't injured.
Police later found a gun in the teens' car. They questioned the teenagers and released them after deciding not to bring any immediate charges.
At the school, while the chase was going on, another person at the dance found the radio and set off a police scramble. Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies and Riviera Beach police officers rushed to assist West Palm Beach officers.
Police eventually found Marchese unharmed and called off the search for him and his shooter. "There was a great deal of concern until we located the officer," Reed said.
Police are still trying to determine who reported an officer down and who the teens were shooting at. Police also are investigating whether Marchese shot at the teens' car at the school.
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