Nashville police, FBI investigate half dozen 'hoax calls' threatening schools, businesses

Craig Shoup, Nashville Tennessean
Updated ·2 min read

Two high schools were targeted Wednesday in what Nashville police are calling a trend of hoax phone calls. The FBI has also become involved in an investigation.

Nashville police say similar calls have been made to the Nashville International Airport, a Metro police precinct, Hard Rock Café and the AT&T building downtown since Thursday.

On Friday, the Williamson County Sheriff's Department reported a false report of an active shooter at Sunset Middle School.

About 100 emergency responders from Nashville police, fire, emergency medical services and emergency management descended on Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School before 9 a.m. The response units included SWAT, police negotiators, a helicopter and victim counselors.

Hunters Lane High School also received a call at 8:53 a.m. The call did not interrupt school as it was quickly determined by police to be a hoax.

Police are working with the FBI to determine the origin of the calls.

"The investigation thus far indicates the likelihood that these specific telephoned threats are originating from outside Tennessee. There have been hundreds of similar threats in other American cities as well as those outside the United States," Nashville police said in a release Wednesday.

The Nashville police department has been very careful in its wording of the incidents.

Nashville Police spokesperson Kris Mumford said the motive for the calls remained under investigation and unknown Wednesday afternoon, but said the department is not labeling the calls as "swatting."

By definition, swatting is the action or practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address, according to Oxford Languages.

In some cases, people will pay to have the swatting calls made on their behalf or will call the authorities on their enemies.

In Tennessee, it is a class C felony to report threats of bombing or shooting. It carries a prison sentence between 3-15 years.

Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on X @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to www.tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hoax calls prompt Nashville police response at MLK high school