First responders rushed to help a young man who was covered in what appeared to be blood after officials received a flood of 911 calls.
Then the man sat up, started laughing and said the frightening scene inside a home in Silver Spring, Maryland, was just a prank for social media, Montgomery County police said.
Two brothers, 21-year-old Denidson Jean and 19-year-old Pierre Jean face criminal charges after police said Wednesday that they staged an elaborate stabbing scene complete with fake blood and a hidden camera.
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Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones slammed the brothers for unnecessarily prompting a response from police officers and medics.
"The suspects’ decision to orchestrate this hoax for social media and set it into motion with directing a call to 9-1-1 demonstrated a total disregard for the numerous Montgomery County police officers and Fire & Rescue personnel who were dispatched to the residence,” Jones said in a statement.
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The Jean brothers’ actions also showed a “total disregard” for residents who actually needed emergency services, Jones said.
Online court records did not list an attorney for either brother.
County officials received several 911 calls at about 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 24 reporting a stabbing at a home in the 12700 block of Laurie Drive in Silver Spring. A caller said two brothers were fighting and one had stabbed the other in the neck with a knife.
The first officer on the scene saw a man, later identified as Denidson Jean, lying on the kitchen floor covered in what appeared to be “a large amount of blood,” police said. He was holding a T-shirt to his neck to stop what seemed to be massive bleeding.
A man later identified as Pierre Jean stood over him, also covered in what appeared to be blood.
“I didn’t mean to,” Pierre Jean said when the officer asked what happened, police said.
The officer saw a large kitchen knife covered in what appeared to be blood on the counter.
The officer began to administer first aid and called for advanced life support.
Four other people in the home were “yelling and crying,” police said.
The officer had been rendering aid to Denidson Jean for about two minutes when police said he sat up, laughed and said it all was a prank for social media.
Additional officers arrived and first responders found that Denidson Jean was unhurt.
Investigators then found fake blood and a digital camera placed in a light in the kitchen. They said that Pierre Jean, with blood on his clothing, told the other residents of the home to call 911.
The residents were not in on the hoax, police said.
“There is no indication that the other residents knew the situation was fake,” police said.
Information was not released on whether the other residents also were family members.
The Jean brothers were arrested Monday and charged with knowingly causing a false call for an ambulance and making a false statement to an officer with the intent to deceive and cause an investigation. They were processed and released from custody.
Jones said he was glad no one was hurt and proud of his officers’ professionalism.
He said in an update that the brothers’ video was posted online and later removed.
