Police respond to active shooter 'hoax' calls at South Dakota high schools

A call about a potential active shooter at a Sioux Falls school and several other across South Dakota were deemed a “hoax” by law enforcement agencies across the state.

Sioux Falls police received a call about an active shooter at Lincoln High School at 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning. Police, the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office and federal agents all responded to the scene, Clemens said.

A School Resource Officer on the campus reported nothing was heard or seen, but still checked out the area and found the threat to be “unfounded,” Clemens said.

The person who made the call was from out-of-state. The call was suspicious in nature with the person claiming to be a student but not sounding like one, Clemens said.

A message to parents in the district came an hour later, first from principal Laura Raeder and then six minutes later from Superintendent Jane Stavem and district safety coordinator Dave Osterquist.

Raeder explained the threat to LHS was the latest in a nation-wide "swatting" attempt, in which someone reports a fake emergency to authorities in hopes of drawing a heavy police response. Often, these calls aren't from local phone numbers, she added in an email to parents.

Raeder said students were asked to shelter-in-place, meaning no one was allowed in or out of the school. Within minutes, a dozen officers responded.

Stavem said in an email to families that proactive partnerships with SFPD and the training required for school leaders was actively put to work today, and "I'm happy to report that it all worked as intended."

Parents like Andrea Haubert were concerned about the hourlong time lapse between when the threat was made, and the time parents were notified about the threat.

Hoax active shooter calls reported across country, South Dakota

High schools across the country have received false active shooter calls in the past month.

And in South Dakota, secretaries at both Mitchell School District and Brookings School District confirmed Thursday morning they had similar threats that were unfounded hoaxes or false reports. The Watertown Police Department reported that a threat was also received at Watertown High School.

Don Hedrick, chief of police in Rapid City, said there an active shooter hoax call to Rapid City High School at 8:30 MT. The caller said there was someone shooting at the school, which caused a major law enforcement response. After a thorough search of the school, Hedrick said it appeared to be a "called-in hoax," and said it was part of swatting efforts.

Hedrick said this is becoming an investigation with the department's federal partners to see if there's a connection between other swatting cases in the state, and in Minnesota.

According to a news release from the Aberdeen Police Department no such calls have been received in Aberdeen or Brown County, but law enforcement is aware of the calls and will respond appropriately if a call were to happen.

"We want to reassure everyone that we are working with all Aberdeen schools to ensure the safety of students and staff members," a news release from the Aberdeen Police Department said.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Hoax active shooter calls reported at Sioux Falls Lincoln, SD schools