Tamela Renfroe, 56, of Red Bay, was charged with falsely reporting an incident after multiple false calls to 9-1-1.

By Alison James

alison.james@fct.wpengine.com

A Red Bay woman was arrested for making fake emergency calls to both Red Bay Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.

Tamela Renfroe, 56, of Red Bay, was charged with falsely reporting an incident after multiple false calls to 9-1-1.

“We had a 9-1-1 call sent to us, and she was saying someone had a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” said Police Chief Janna Jackson. “The officers went to the area, and it was determined that the information she called with was incorrect. Since then she’s made three more calls.”

Each call, Jackson said, was reporting of a shooting. Renfroe was arrested Aug. 17 by the Red Bay Police Department for the Aug. 13 false report.

Renfroe is in jail after being similarly charged by the sheriff’s department.

“She called us and said somebody had shot themselves in the Vina area near the school,” said Sheriff Shannon Oliver.

Oliver emphasized the importance of not making false reports to emergency personnel.

“False calls like this tie up a lot of resources that could be used on other calls or even other serious emergencies,” Oliver said.