'Swatting' pranks lure police to colleges across South Florida in search of 'active shooter'

WEST PALM BEACH — A series of active-shooter reports at universities and colleges across South Florida prompted significant responses by law enforcement Tuesday morning, including a large police response to the campus of Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach.

The university reported that it was the target of a "swatting" call, a form of harassment in which someone falsely reports an emergency to trick law enforcement — especially heavily armed SWAT teams — to descend on a school, home, business or other location.

Dozens of city police could be seen outside the college's Warren Library on Tuesday morning as officers investigated reports of an active shooter.

City police spokesman Mike Jachles said about 60 officers went to the campus after the department received a call shortly 10 a.m. on a nonemergency line. The unidentified caller reported that there were multiple victims of an active shooter on the third-floor IT room.

There were early indications that the call may have been a hoax, Jachles said, but the the department still activated its active-shooter protocol, including deploying a SWAT team.

"We have to treat every call, every threat, as if it is the real thing," he said.

In a statement posted on social media, university officials confirmed that no threat was found.

What is 'swatting': False active shooter calls clog law enforcement, terrify schools

More Florida schools hit: USF Sarasota-Manatee and several other Florida schools receive false shooting threats

Tornado report: '(Dog) was flipping out.' Man, whimpering best friend inside car as tornado rolls it over

"There was never a shooter on campus and this emergency call was determined to be false," the university said in a statement posted on its Facebook page. Law-enforcement officials are working to identify the person responsible, the statement said.

Jachles said the department is investigating leads in conjunction with the FBI.

Similar 'swatting' incidents at FAU, FIU, Indian River State

Similar incidents were reported at main and satellite campuses for Boca Raton-based Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce-based Indian River State College and Miami-based Florida International University.

FAU reported that Fort Lauderdale police received a call regarding a threat to the university's Broward County campus. Police quickly determined there was no threat, the university said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.

IRSC reported that a 911 call was made just before 10:30 a.m. regarding an active shooter at its main campus in Fort Pierce, with a similar call being made about 10 minutes later regarding its Vero Beach campus. Both calls were found to be hoaxes, and within 30 minutes of the initial 911 call, both students and staff members were cleared to resume normal activities.

At FIU, police cleared the university's AHC 3 building in Miami and conducted a methodical search before determining there was no threat.

A dad at Taylor Swift: How hard is it to see Taylor Swift concert? Ticket sites beat us, but TikTok hack helped

At the beach: Giant mats of seaweed lurk off Florida's coast and have beached in spurts but will peak soon

What is 'swatting' and why it matters

Swatting is a crime that can carry federal and state penalties, and law-enforcement officials warn that such calls can drain significant resources and pull officers away from actual emergencies.

"What it's doing is it's putting lives in jeopardy, because you've got police officers that are in active-shooter mode engaging to respond and get somewhere quickly," Jachles said. "It's jeopardizing public safety. It's jeopardizing officer safety, not to mention the fear that it instills in the students and staff that endure this."

In October, school districts from St. Lucie to Miami-Dade counties, and in Collier and Sarasota counties, reported multiple swatting incidents on the same day involving high-school campuses.

Persons accused of swatting could be charged with crimes such as misuse of a 911 system, conspiracy to commit access-device fraud and unauthorized access of a protected computer.

"This is no prank," Jachles said. "This is a downright crime. It's dangerous, and it jeopardizes life safety."

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: South Florida police race to college campuses amid 'swatting' prank calls