Thread by @TexasTribune

1/ David Briscoe told everyone he was a substitute teacher who witnessed the school shooting at Santa Fe High School in May 2018. You may have read about him in @TIME, @CNN or the @WSJ.

But this wasn’t true. He was never there. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

2/ The man calling himself David Briscoe appeared in TIME as a substitute English teacher seemingly in the wrong place at the wrong time. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

3/ CNN described his heroism as he ordered his students to “get down” and kept them protected until the police came. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

4/ The Wall Street Journal relayed the blood curdling screams he heard from students in the hallway. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

5/ He told the Texas Tribune similar stories. But after an investigation into some of his claims, it appears his entire story was an elaborate hoax. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

6/ A spokeswoman for Santa Fe Independent School District said it had no record of anyone named David Briscoe being employed by the district in any capacity. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

7/ James Roy, a lieutenant for the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office, which helped investigate the massacre, said there were no English classes on the side of the school where the shooting occurred and where the man claiming to be David Briscoe said he was.bit.ly/2RMXqhj

8/ A background check on David Briscoe by the Tribune — using the full name and state of residence he gave a reporter — found no record of a Texas address for him. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

9/ Instead, records state that he’s currently listed as living in Florida, where he’s also listed as living at the time of the shooting. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

10/ Briscoe said he recently gave a speech at Colonial High School in Orlando, where he said the principal honored him.

A spokeswoman for Colonial High School said no one named David Briscoe came to the school to speak. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

11/ When the Tribune asked to re-interview the man calling himself David Briscoe in early May, he initially claimed a rogue former employee — who he refused to name — had stolen his identity. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

12/ “I have never lived in Texas,” he said. “I have only lived in Florida. I’ve been living here practically my whole life.”

Then he stopped responding to requests for comment. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

13/ This isn’t an isolated incident. In other disasters, small numbers of people have pretended to be victims — often for financial gain, but sometimes for attention.

The rise of social media makes this a more common occurrence. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

14/ Half a dozen Santa Fe survivors contacted by the Tribune also said they had never heard of someone named David Briscoe, and many wondered how he managed to snooker the media and grief-stricken survivors into believing his tale. bit.ly/2RMXqhj

15/15 TIME, CNN, the Statesman and the Wall Street Journal have removed any reference of David Briscoe from their stories after learning of the inquiries from the Tribune.

Read the full story: bit.ly/2RMXqhj