Multiple Texas colleges experience swatting incidents
Multiple colleges in Texas experienced swatting incidents on Thursday after police received calls of active threats and shooters on campus that they later determined to be hoaxes.
The incidents happened at Collin College, a public community college located in northeastern Texas, Baylor University and Galen College of Nursing in San Antonio. It is unclear if the incidents are related to each other.
Plano Police issued a “code red” for a possible active shooter at Collin College and sent officers into the college’s buildings to search for any threat.
No injuries were found, and the police department later posted that it had received a 911 call that it determined to be a hoax. It said the call was quickly determined to be false.
A police spokesperson told the Dallas Morning News that it appeared to be a “swatting incident.”
The Waco-based Fox News affiliate Fox 44 reported that Baylor University police responded to a call to Waco law enforcement that said an active shooter incident was ongoing at the school’s Information Technology Services building. But police cleared the facility and determined that no threat existed to campus.
San Antonio police also responded to a call of an active shooter near Galen College’s Medical Center, but officials said they found no sign of a shooting and the call seemed to be a hoax, according to the San Antonio-based CBS affiliate KENS5.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) declined to comment to The Hill on the incidents themselves but said the department is “continuously monitoring events” and their effect on public safety.
“While we do not discuss operational specifics, DPS will continue to work with local law enforcement and adjust operations as needed [to] address any potential threats,” the department said.
Experts have said swatting is not a new practice but is increasingly becoming more common. Hundreds of swatting calls happen annually.
This story was updated at 2:19 p.m.
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