Advertisement 911 call about escaped lions possibly eating horses leads to school lockout Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A 911 call about the possibility of escaped lions possibly eating horses led to three Upstate schools being put on lockout Thursday morning, according to law enforcement and school officials.To hear the 911 call, click here. Several different stories about the supposed sighting started circulating Thursday morning.Initial accounts indicated that a caller saw two lions that were eating a cow in a field.But according to the 911 call obtained by WYFF News 4, the caller saw two lions in a field and believed that they were there to eat horses.“I seen it out of the corner of my eye, and my brother seen it. It was across the field. We seen what appeared to be two lions, like with a big mane, one you’d see at the zoo. One had a mane and one did not. And I live just a couple miles away from the Hollywild Animal Park," the caller told a Spartanburg County 911 dispatcher. “I’m assuming that they broke out of the zoo. I just felt like maybe we should tell somebody. I tried to call the Hollywild Animal Park, and their message said they were closed for the winter.”An animal control officer contacted the caller and believed the story sounded legitimate. As a precaution, Spartanburg District 5 put D.R. Hill Middle and Lyman Elementary on lock out. Spartanburg District 1 put Holly Springs-Motlow School on lock out, too.Lockout means that everyone in the school can operate as normal, but no one is allowed in or out of the school. The animal control officer went to the field along Holly Springs Road near Highway 357 where the caller had the supposed sighting.The officer didn't see any lions there.The officer then went to Hollywild Animal Park and found all four of the park's lions in their habitats, according to Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement.Initially, Kim Atchley with Hollywild, said she thought someone was trying to generate negative press about the animal park.“We know some people would send alarms like this to try to do draw negativity to the good we’re doing here, but all our animals are safe and sound. There are absolutely no grounds for such a claim,” she said.Later Thursday morning, Atchley said she had learned the report came from genuine concern and was not a deliberate attempt to make the park look bad."We just hope people will think of Hollywild for what we're here for and not for a cause of alarm. We are here for a resource for our community from our educational standpoint to just a place to come out for fun," Atchley said. "We have more than what is required in many cases for the safety barriers. That's for the public coming into the park and as well as the public outside the park grounds. We make sure that we have everything in line for safety."The school lock outs lasted about 10 minutes.(The picture to the right is what Atchley says the lions were doing Thursday morning.)Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement said the caller will not be charged for the false report, because it came from an actual concern for the community.