Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg's house raided by SWAT team after apparent prank call

Police responded to Parkland teenager's house only to find no one was home

David Hogg speaks to the media before particpating in a 'die'-in' protest in a Publix supermarket (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A SWAT team was called to the Florida home of a Parkland school shooting survivor, and two schools were placed on lockdown after someone made a prank call to the local sheriff's office.

The Broward County sheriff's department received a call at 8:39am claiming there was someone with a weapon inside the home of shooting survivor David Hogg, a department spokesperson told The Independent.

Two local elementary schools were placed on lockdown while the incident was investigated, according to CBS.

When a SWAT team arrived at the residence, however, they found no one inside. The sheriff’s department determined the call was a prank, and is investigating who had placed it.

Mr Hogg did not tweet directly about the incident, but did remark on Twitter shortly thereafter that he could “really use a chocolate chip muffin”.

He later told CBS that he had no idea who made the call, but called it a “distraction” from the issues at hand.

“This is a serious attempt of people try to distract us from what we are trying to do here, which is solve the gun violence epidemic and get youth out to vote,” he said.

Mr Hogg has become a target for many on the American right because of his strong stance on gun control. Seventeen of Mr Hogg’s teachers and classmates died in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, prompting him and several classmates to start a campaign for stricter gun control laws. The students have helped organise marches, rallies, and lobby days across the country.

From the early days of the campaign, Mr Hogg – an eloquent and outspoken 18-year-old – has been the target of conspiracy theories claiming he is a crisis actor or an FBI plant. One conservative blog suggested Mr Hogg may not have even been at the school at the time of the shooting. Later, Fox News host Laura Ingraham mocked the high school senior for being rejected from several colleges, causing a number of advertisers to boycott her show.

Mr Hogg has continued his activism, however, telling ABC News that he is taking a gap year before college to focus on lobbying for gun control. He plans to take a 60-day road trip called “March for Our Lives: Road to Change” to encourage young people to register to vote.

The teenager was in Washington picking up a human rights award when the prank call was placed.