Paroled Missouri man charged with falsely reporting shooting in Madison County
A man who was on parole from a Missouri prison has been charged with falsely reporting an active shooter at a business in Pontoon Beach on Tuesday.
Johnny B. Sesson, 27, of St. Louis, was charged in Madison County Court on Wednesday with one count of making a false report and one count of possession of methamphetamine, Pontoon Beach Police Chief Chris Modrusic said in a news release.
Around 8:02 a.m., Pontoon Beach police arrived at Menasha Packaging at 9 Gateway Commerce Drive after receiving a 911 call from a man who told them that there was a person firing shots inside and attempting to kill him. The man, later identified as Sesson, was an employee at the business, Modrusic said.
Pontoon Beach police called in several other agencies, including the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, Illinois State Police, Edwardsville Police Department, Glen Carbon Police Department and a SWAT team, to investigate, Modrusic said.
Law enforcement entered the building and evacuated the 200 employees inside. There were no injuries and no active shooter.
During a search of the building, Sesson approached officers to tell them that he was the one who had made the call and falsely accused another male employee of firing shots, Modrusic said.
Sesson was taken into custody and the other man was questioned by police before being released without charges, Modrusic said. The packing plant employees were allowed to go back to work.
Sesson remained in the Madison County Jail Thursday on a $50,000 bond, awaiting a psychological evaluation.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sesson served prison time in Missouri for second-degree robbery, drug trafficking, armed criminal action and burglary. He was paroled on April 6.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 11:36 AM.
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