Rash of false active shooter calls at schools (SWATTING) across the nation

[Nevilledog]

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according to publicly available scanner traffic: at 1:05pm, someone called in "a physical disorder" in the parking lot at charlottesville high school. 15 minutes later, rescue was dispatched with the call type listed as "active shooter." there have been no reports of shots fired.

there's no official statement yet other than the all-clear on the scene & the lifting of the lockdown at the high school, but within minutes of the scene being cleared, someone on a police radio described the incident as a swatting.

charlottesville high school has issued a statement confirming the 911 call was a hoax & there are indications that similar hoax calls have been reported elsewhere

what a wicked, cruel thing to do. i'm glad to see CHS respond quickly with mental health resources. i hope every CHS parent has time to recover from the near death experience of receiving that text today.

culpeper county schools are reporting a similar incident this afternoon

a high school in lynchburg was also locked down this afternoon after a call was received there

a similar incident occurred at a high school in arlington, va this afternoon, as well

it may not just be schools in virginia - in albuquerque, NM someone called in about a fight at a high school possibly involving a gun, but responding officers found no such incident.

it's hard to say how much of this is just a normal day in the united states of america, but a high school in oblong, illinois was also placed on lockdown this afternoon after a suspicious phone call

similar false reports of shootings were called in regarding high schools in virginia beach, norfolk, chesapeake, newport news, and suffolk. that makes at least ten virginia school districts locked down over fake threats today.

Schools across Hampton Roads receive false shooting threats
Virginia Beach dispatch confirmed someone reported an active shooter at Ocean Lakes High School, but it turned out to be false.
https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/crime/schools-hampton-roads-false-shooting-threats-sept-19/291-957f3d39-b021-496a-9cdf-2654cf4263d9

i guess it's just virginia's turn this week - the FBI issued a statement about a similar flurry of hoax calls reporting school shootings in texas last week

FBI addresses string of false threats made against Houston-area schools | Houston Public Media
High schools in Aldine, Houston and Klein ISDs were the subject of unsubstantiated threats of violence this week.

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/houston/2022/09/16/433167/fbi-addresses-string-of-false-threats-made-against-houston-area-schools/

districts in florida and arkansas had similar school SWATting incidents on friday

'It needs to stop.' Active shooter hoaxes at schools are having serious consequences | CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/17/us/false-active-shooter-reports-swatting-danger/index.html
the fbi is already investigating a nationwide flurry of school SWATting incidents that occurred last week in kansas, missouri, oklahoma, california, and texas

Swatting at Wichita North HS possibly connected to similar calls nationwide
The FBI is investigating if the situation locally is linked to a national trend.
https://www.kwch.com/2022/09/16/swatting-wichita-north-hs-possibly-connected-similar-calls-nationwide/

the trauma this is causing in schools across the country is just unfathomable. cops wielding rifles frisked several teenagers in a classroom in houston after a hoax call last week

'Everyone, hands up' | New video from Heights High School shooting hoax shows police response in classroom

Experts say, although potentially traumatic, the response appears to have been by the book.
https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/heights-high-school-shooting-threat-classroom-video/285-36781904-2c34-44d3-8432-d83695add1bd
• • •

[Igel]

1. My students say there's a TikTok challenge,

"shut my school."

Don't do social media so are they lying or truth-telling?

[Nevilledog]

2. Haven't seen that come up