BREAKING NEWS: Police call gang fight text message a hoax

Text messages flooding cell phones in Carson City today that indicate there will be a gang fight at a Wal-Mart are believed to be a hoax.

Carson City Sheriff's Patrol and Gang Sgt. Mark Marshall said his people first heard of the text messages yesterday when they were put on notice by the Reno Police Department who'd been forwarded the message by high school students.

Marshall said as a precaution extra attention is being paid to Wal-Mart

Carson City Sheriff's School Deputy Scott Davis said the text message appears to be a variation on an e-mail hoax from 2005 that is documented at Web sites such as Snopes.com.

A version of the text message being passed around Carson City states:

"Do not go to any walmart tonight. Gang initiation to shoot 3 women tonight. Not sure which walmart. And confirmed on tv. fwd to all girls."

"It's a hoax," said Davis.

Law enforcement in Jefferson Parish,La.; Enid, Okla., and Joplin, Mo. have also been discounting the same rumor today.

For more information visit http://www.snopes.com/crime/gangs/walmart.asp