FBI helps local police after Kentucky schools received fake shooting reports: What we know
The FBI is assisting several agencies in the investigation into multiple “swatting” reports at schools in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed Thursday.
All of the swatting incidents happened at nearly the same time Wednesday morning, with reports coming in from Lexington’s Frederick Douglass High School, as well as Louisville’s DuPont Manual High School and Frederick Law Olmsted Academy North.
All three reports were unfounded, police said. The Louisville Metro Police Department indicated all three calls may have been connected, and they could’ve been part of a larger swatting incident as schools in Ohio and Indiana received similar calls. Officials from several agencies did not say Thursday if they’d confirmed any ties between the calls.
The FBI confirmed Thursday it was involved in the investigation to help local police identify potential suspects. LMPD said no arrests had been made by Thursday morning.
“The FBI ... takes swatting very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk, causes undue stress and fear to the public, and wastes valuable law enforcement resources,” FBI spokesperson Katie Anderson told the Herald-Leader in an email. “We urge the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement immediately.”
Swatting is a term used for calls to 911 about fake emergencies.
In April 2022, a new bill was signed into law that made some swatting offenses a class D felony. Prison sentences for a class D felony in Kentucky range from one to five years.
Offenses under the Kentucky statute for falsely reporting an incident can be considered a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on the nature of the offense.
The General Assembly defined swatting as “when a person knowingly causes a false alarm of fire or other emergency to be transmitted within any organization, or to an official or volunteer who deals with emergencies involving danger to life or property.”
The bill was signed into law by Gov. Andy Beshear amid repeated incidents of fake calls to 911 across the state.
A spokesperson for Fayette County Public Schools said the investigation by the FBI is ongoing and offered no updates on the incident at Frederick Douglass.
The schools in Ohio that received unfounded threats included Archbishop Alter High School in Dayton and Colerain High School in Cincinnati.
Other schools in Cincinnati, Dayton and Evansville received untrue threats around the same time Wednesday. Classes at Archbishop Alter High School in Dayton and Colerain High School in Cincinnati were canceled for the remainder of the day.
