Suspect from Navistar active shooter April Fools’ prank awaits judge’s decision in case

CLARK COUNTY — A woman is awaiting a judge’s decision after her trial following what deputies described as an active shooter prank at the Navistar plant near Springfield last April 1.

Pamela Sisco, 59, is facing a single count of inducing panic, which is a felony charge.

Closing arguments ended in Sisco’s bench trial early last month, however the judge who heard the trial has not issued his decision yet, according to online records.

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Sisco is accused of texting her sister to report an active shooter at Navistar on Urbana Road.

“She stated she was playing a joke on her sister for April Fools Day and trying to get her back from last year,” an affidavit filed in Clark County Municipal Court read.

Navistar confirmed to News Center 7 that Sisco had been fired from the business shortly after the incident happened.

Court records showed 34 law enforcement and EMS personnel responded to the plant around 11:45 a.m. on a report of a possible active shooter.

That response came after Sisco’s sister called 911 after receiving text messages from Sisco.

“She said there was a guy that got fired yesterday and he came in with a gun and they are barricaded with the lights off in an office,” the sister said to a 911 dispatcher. “She sent me a text, and I’m afraid to text her if they are barricaded and hiding.”

Attorney Jon Paul Rion is representing Sisco.

“It was an inside, family joke, she thought, taken the wrong way by another family member,” Rion told WHIO’s Mike Campbell.

The judge assigned to the case is now deciding whether it should be considered a felony, as the prosecution believes because of the cost of the emergency response, or a misdemeanor as her lawyer believes it should be.

“It’s a case where the technical aspects of the law fit, but we need to look at it with common sense as well,” Rion said.

It is not clear when the judge will make his decision on Sisco’s future.

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