At least 12 RI communities targeted by false school shooting reports
At least a dozen Rhode Island police departments received false reports of school shootings Monday morning, prompting police officers to rush to the schools, and the schools to take extra safety measures.
All of Narragansett's schools were put on lockdown after police received a call at 9:05 a.m. reporting a shooting at the high school.
"Officers arrived at each school within 60 seconds, and swept each school for potential intruders or danger," Narragansett Police Chief Sean Corrigan said in an email. "Each school was confirmed to be secure by 9:20 and normal school operations resumed. All students and faculty are safe."
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Westerly High School was put on lockdown, and all of the department's available officers went to the high school after a hoax call was made to the department's non-emergency line at 8:47 a.m., Chief Paul Gingerella said.
Officers checked and cleared the building within 15 minutes, he said.
Several schools and police departments quickly posted messages on social media to notify and calm their communities.
In a 9:12 a.m. message, Westerly Public Schools put out a message saying, Westerly High School was "briefly" in lockdown and students at other schools were instructed to shelter in place Monday morning due to a "hoax phone threat."
"The buildings have been cleared to return to regular activity."
The Narragansett Police Department posted a message to Facebook with extra capitalization for emphasis, "This morning, there was a report of a school shooting at the high school. THIS REPORTED INCIDENT WAS A HOAX. There was NO shooting, and all students and faculty are safe."
Westerly was the first community to receive a call, Gingerella said, but calls to other cities and towns followed. Those included Narragansett, Portsmouth, Burrillville, Richmond, Cumberland, East Providence, Bristol, Barrington, Newport, Cranston and Warwick, according to Gingerella and Corrigan.
Cities and towns in Connecticut and Massachusetts have dealt with similar hoaxes recently, according to Gingerella.
The police characterize such hoaxes as "swatting" calls, "false reports of an attack upon a school intended to elicit a police response, disrupt the school day and provoke fear and anxiety," Corrigan said.
Chariho Regional Schools Supt. Gina Picard sent a message saying schools had been placed in "secure status" after "it was brought to our attention that there have been some spoof phone calls sent to police departments" in the area.
The Chariho district encompasses Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton.
"Out of an abundance of caution, our buildings have been placed in secure status. There is no threat at this time and we have police on site," Picard said in the message, which was posted to social media.
According to Corrigan and Gingerella, the incidents will be investigated through the state's Fusion Center, which gathers, analyzes and shares threat-related information among federal, state and local entities.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: School shooting hoax made to multiples RI police departments
