MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A teacher has been charged with fabricating an attack that forced Splendora High School into lockdown for nearly three hours and prompted a massive law enforcement response Thursday morning, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
Splendora ISD said that 53-year-old social studies teacher Nicole Truelove activated a school-issued panic alarm at 8:45 a.m., which automatically triggered a lockdown.
“If you hit it more than three, up to 10 times, it literally locks the building down,” said Superintendent Dustin Bromley. “So that’s what occurred in the classroom. She engaged that badge.”
The sheriff’s office said they were initially told that a student had attacked Truelove, but later determined her injury had been self-inflicted with a razor blade.
Dozens of worried parents and about 100 law enforcement officers had descended on the school at the height of Thursday’s panic.
Truelove is charged with making a false report and tampering with evidence.
The teacher made headlines in 2017 when she filed a $1 million federal lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, claiming she had been sexually assaulted by an inmate during a teaching assignment for Windham School District.
The inmate, Xavier Johnson, was already serving time for burglary.
“He threatened myself and my children,” Truelove told reporters at the time. “When it was over I dropped to the floor.”
Records show Johnson was ultimately convicted of retaliation and assault on a public servant for the attack on Truelove, but wasn’t convicted on a sexual assault charge.
He filed his own lawsuit against Truelove in 2023, denying the allegations. The lawsuit was dismissed two months later when Johnson failed to pay a filing fee, records show.
In 2024, the TDCJ settled Truelove’s lawsuit for an undisclosed sum.
Splendora ISD said Truelove joined the district this school year.
This story comes from our news partner ABC13 Houston.