Fake threats of violence target multiple New York school districts

Fake threats of violence were made to several school districts in New York on Thursday morning, causing emergency responses from law enforcement and adding to a disturbing trend happening across the nation.

In the Rochester region, two school districts were hit with fake threats of violence early Thursday, causing emergency responses from police. Brighton and Brockport school districts both received threats against the district's high schools, and in both districts students were instructed to shelter in place after New York State Police were notified of an active shooter in the school buildings. However, troopers determined that both threats were not credible.

"It is beyond discouraging that our school environment and the people in the school community would be put through the emotional turmoil and practical disruption that these situations create," said Brighton Superintendent Kevin McGowan in a message shared on the district's website and social media. "We will continue to work closely with law enforcement and our safety committee to prevent, respond, and follow-up."

Around the same time, police in Rome were called to Rome Free Academy for reports of shots fired, and the Oneida County 911 Center reported shots fired at Proctor High School in Utica. Authorities believe the same caller made both calls, but after searching the buildings, responding officers determined that there was no active shooter. Herkimer police also planned to maintain an increased presence at Herkimer Jr./Sr. High School Thursday, after a similar call was made to its 911 center and determined to be unfounded.

Additionally, dozens of school districts in Westchester and Putnam counties were targeted with fake phone calls on Thursday morning warning of imminent school shootings. Emergency services were deployed to the affected schools, with some going into lockdown as a precaution.

The Westchester County Executive, George Latimer, voiced his concerns that the callers may have been testing the response times of law enforcement and emergency services in preparation for future attacks. Although the calls were eventually deemed to be hoaxes, Latimer warned that the situation was "a lot darker" than a simple prank.

New York State Police said on social media Thursday they are working with federal and local partners to investigate the threats. Several districts in the Albany region also received swatting calls.

Schools in New York are the latest targeted by so-called swatting calls. On Wednesday, schools in Pennsylvania were targeted. One day earlier, nearly 30 Massachusetts schools received fake threats. School officials are already on edge amid a backdrop of deadly school shootings, the latest Monday at a Christian school in Nashville.

What is swatting?

Hundreds of cases of swatting occur annually, with some using caller ID spoofing to disguise their number. The goal is to get authorities, particularly a SWAT team, to respond to an address.

Where are swatting calls happening?

Few regions of the country have been spared from such calls and the disruptions they cause. The false calls Wednesday in Pennsylvania led to lockdowns or evacuations in several counties, according to state police. Law enforcement had to take each one seriously no matter how dubious it seemed. Police in Pittsburgh, for instance, searched every room at Central Catholic High School, even after getting word that a report of people being hurt inside wasn't true within a minute, said Thomas Stangrecki, the interim police chief.

In Iowa, so many schools were targeted earlier this month that Gov. Kim Reynolds complained at a news conference about the toll it was taking to confirm the terror-inducing calls are fake.

And in Minnesota, the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension issued a warning last month after fake calls forced eight schools into lockdown over two days.

Do fake threats hinder response to real shootings?

Authorities are grappling with the false alarms in a country where mass shooters have killed hundreds of people throughout history. Shooters have attacked in places like stores, theaters and workplaces, but it is in schools and colleges where the carnage reverberates perhaps most keenly. At U.S. schools and colleges, 175 people have been killed in 15 mass shootings that resulted in the deaths of four or more people, not including the perpetrator — from 1999′s Columbine High School massacre to Monday’s shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. That’s according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University, in addition to other AP reporting.

Do even false threats pose a risk?

Such calls have proven dangerous and even outright deadly. In 2017, a police officer in Wichita, Kansas, shot and killed a man while responding to a hoax emergency call. Just this month, the city agreed to pay $5 million to settle a lawsuit, with the money to go to the two children of 28-year-old Andrew Finch. The hoax call that led to his death began as a feud between two online gamers. One of the gamers recruited Tyler Barriss to “swat” the other gamer. But the address used was old, leading police to Finch, who was not involved in the dispute or playing the video game. Barriss was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, while the other two gamers were sentenced to 15- and 18-month terms.

Police in Maryland also shot a 20-year-old Maryland man in the face with rubber bullets after a fake hostage situation was reported at his home.

The FBI in Pittsburgh nodded to the risk, noting in a statement about the school threat cases that it “takes swatting very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk.”

USA Today-New York reporters Victoria Freile, Diana Dombrowski, Gary Stern and Ed Harris contributed to this report; Associate Press reporters Heather Hollingsworth, Peter Smith in Pittsburgh, Ron Todt in Philadelphia, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington also contributed.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Swatting calls target multiple New York school districts