KANSAS CITY – A Missouri lawmaker says she was testing the 988 suicide hotline and now she’s under criminal investigation
State Representative Tricia Byrnes of Wentzville says she engaged the 988 suicide hotline via text message as a test to highlight what she calls cold, automatic responses.
With her messaging, she pretended to be in distress, sending a series of texts, including one where she wrote that she had a gun to her head.
That claim sparked a flurry of activity by multiple law enforcement agencies and as the Kansas City Star reports, Jefferson City police said “a lot of resources” were used to respond.
A police dispatcher eventually did reach Byrnes by phone, explaining how the system works, all of the resources used, and telling her this was concerning.
Byrnes did apologize, although she says she stands by the reasons for what she did.
Byrnes had been texting from the state capitol building and the Missouri Capitol Police have now launched an investigation, including a meeting with Byrnes on Wednesday.