Manatee deputies investigate hoax active shooter threat at USF Sarasota-Manatee

Adding to a string of false active shooter calls on college campuses across the state, law enforcement officials on Tuesday investigated a hoax report at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus.

More than a dozen deputies with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office descended on the campus to investigate the threat Tuesday morning, but there were no confirmed reports of gunfire or victims on the campus, located across the street from the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

False calls also were received in South Florida on Tuesday, including one that evacuated some campus buildings at Florida International University in Miami-Dade County. A false call also came into the Broward College campus in downtown Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach Atlantic in West Palm Beach.

“This appears to be part of a state-wide swatting hoax at Florida colleges,” the sheriff’s office tweeted.

At 11:38 a.m., USFSM sent an emergency notification of “shots fired.” Students, faculty and staff were evacuated from the campus.

“A report of shots fired near first floor gym. Urgent alert. Avoid area. Emergency personnel on scene. Please evacuate to the closest exit,” the alert said.

By 1:29 p.m., USF officials announced that the scene had been cleared and there was no threat to the campus. Every room on the campus was inspected by an officer, officials said.

False active shooter threat at USFSM

At a Tuesday afternoon news conference, Jennifer Coley, interim police chief of the New College and USFSM Police Department, said the call was a hoax and an investigation is ongoing to try to find out who submitted the false report of an active shooter.

“Officers from the campus police department responded immediately and cleared the building. Deputies from the Manatee County Sheriff’s office also responded,” Coley said. “With their assistance, we were able to able to clear the building and confirm that there was no shooting.”

Manatee Sheriff Rick Wells also spoke during the news conference, issuing a strong warning to anyone who submits a false active shooter report.

“The message is you’re going to jail if we find you. This is not a joke. This is not a hoax,” Wells said. “I’m pissed. I’m pissed because these kids are now traumatized.”

The sheriff’s office has investigated a string of false threats recently. Earlier this year, Parrish Community High School was the subject of multiple false threats.

Wells said that the callers in these false threat cases, which are known as “swatting,” are often hard to track down because they use technology to disguise the origin of the call.

“It’s extremely frustrating for us because it really limits our ability to trace the call. We do have some very good detectives who have been schooled in these types of calls, but a lot of these IP addresses don’t come from the United States, they come through other countries,” Wells said.

According to a press release from USFSM, classes and activities on the campus were canceled for the rest of Tuesday. The school says counseling and other support services have also been made available to students, faculty and staff affected by the incident.

Anyone with information about Tuesday’s false active shooter call is asked to contact the USF Police Department at (813) 974-2628.