A man who claimed to be a substitute teacher and survivor of a school shooting in Texas in 2018 never actually worked at the school, officials say.
David Briscoe told news outlets he had protected students from harm while working at Santa Fe High School, where 10 people were killed.
The Texas Tribune revealed the truth behind his false claims on Monday.
But not before CNN, Wall Street Journal and others had published his lies.
Texas Tribune journalist Alexandra Samuels revealed Mr Briscoe had contacted her in April 2019 to do a follow-up piece in light of recent suicides by mass shooting survivors.
The "insane story" roused her suspicions and the journalist contacted the local school board who confirmed no one of his name had ever worked in the district.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-48836786
The man calling himself David Briscoe appeared in Time as a substitute teacher seemingly in the wrong place at the wrong time; CNN described his heroism as he ordered his students to “get down” and kept them protected until police came; The Wall Street Journal relayed the blood-curdling screams he heard from students in the hallway.
In April, nearly a year after the shooting, he told a strikingly similar story to The Texas Tribune. But after investigating some of his claims, the Tribune did not publish his account of the shooting — because it appears his entire story was an elaborate hoax.
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/07/01 ... d-briscoe/
