A social media post falsely claiming a homeless person was on Oak Harbor High School campus Monday prompted police to issue a statement dispelling the rumor after students circulated an AI-generated image as a prank.
The Oak Harbor Police Department released a statement Monday addressing the false claim. “The Oak Harbor Police Department is aware of a social media post that circulated this morning among parents and community members, falsely claiming that a homeless individual was present on the Oak Harbor High School Campus,” OHPD stated. “This claim is not accurate.”
The prank, known as the “AI Homeless Man Prank,” involves creating an AI-generated image of a homeless individual in familiar settings and sending the image to friends or family members to alarm them.
“In this case, students generated and circulated an image implying the presence of a homeless individual on school grounds, which led to unnecessary concern within the community,” OHPD stated.
OHPD is partnering with Oak Harbor School District administrators to investigate the incident.
The department encouraged families to discuss responsible technology use with children and the consequences of distributing false information online. “AI tools can create highly convincing images, and misinformation can spread quickly, causing unnecessary fear or diverting public safety resources,” OHPD stated.
The department urged anyone receiving alarming messages or images about campus safety issues to verify information with official OHPD or OHSD communications before sharing it elsewhere.
The incident highlights growing concerns about AI-generated content’s potential to create realistic but false images that can spread rapidly on social media, causing confusion and consuming public safety resources as authorities respond to fabricated threats.
