Hoax reports of school shootings being investigated across South Carolina

Police departments in South Carolina received a litany of calls about the presence of an active shooter in school districts across the state Wednesday morning.

So far, about seven school districts in Greenville, Anderson, Charleston, Greenwood, Beaufort, Richland and Horry counties have reported hoax 911 calls. Several press statements have referred to them as prank calls.

Tim Waller, spokesperson for the Greenville County School District, said that the police responded and determined quickly that the tip was fake, as per a press release.

"As purely a precautionary measure, we will have additional law enforcement and district personnel on campus for the rest of the day," Waller wrote in the release.

Meanwhile, Anderson County Sherriff's Office said in a press statement that there's an active investigation to determine the origin of the calls. So far, no arrests have been reported from either of the counties and school districts.

The fake calls seem to be a part of a trend referred to as "swatting," where emergency services are prank called with false information to prompt armed police services toward a particular address. Several such cases have been reported all across the U.S.

State Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a tweet that law enforcement takes active shooter situations are taken "extremely serious".

"False claims aren’t a joke and prosecutors across the state will not treat them as jokes," Wilson said.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Multiple fake active shooter calls reported in SC schools