Threats made toward multiple CT schools as police gather at funeral of fallen officers
Multiple school districts across Connecticut were swatted on Friday as police across the state gathered in East Hartford to honor two Bristol officers killed in the line of duty.
As the joint funeral for Bristol Lt. Dustin DeMonte and Sgt. Alex Hamzy took place at Rentschler Field on Friday, there were false reports of an active threat at several high schools in Connecticut, including Windsor Locks Middle School, Enfield High School, Stamford High School and Windham High School. Initial reports from police say the calls appear to be a part of a larger swatting incident throughout the state.
Bristol Public Schools were closed on Friday to honor the officers killed in the line of duty in a shooting on Oct. 12.
The Windsor Locks Police Department responded to a report of a shooting at the middle school Friday morning and cleared the school. According to police, there were no injuries or shots fired. District schools were placed in lockdown while police investigated.
Police said investigations into the report point to a swatting incident.
The Enfield Police Department received a phone call reporting an active incident with multiple students injured at Enfield High School just before 10:30 a.m. on Friday.
“Concurrently, other area police departments also received similar calls for active incidents at schools in their towns,” Enfield Police said in a Facebook post.
School resource officers secured the school and began searching the facility while other officers responded, police said.
The whole school was checked and cleared. Officers did not find anything suspicious and no further reports of violence have occurred, police said. Police determined there was no credible threat to the school.
Police in Groton received a call after 10 a.m. reporting an active shooter at a local high school from an “undetermined origin” which appeared to be a recording, police said.
Officers responded to Fitch High School, Groton Middle School and Grasso Southeastern Technical School to investigate the report. All Groton schools were placed into lockdown protocols, police said.
Police quickly determined the threat was not credible and likely an incident of swatting. The lockdowns were lifted shortly after.
Eastern Connecticut State University entered into a shelter-in-place for a reported active shooter incident at Windham High School. The Eastern Police Department lifted the shelter-in-place around noon and classes resumed at 1 p.m., the school said in a Facebook post.
The Norwich Police received a call reporting an active shooter incident at Norwich Technical High School after 11 a.m. Friday. Officers responded and determined there was no active threat. The school was placed into lockdown as officers checked the school, police said.
“It was also determined that this was not an isolated incident as other police departments in southeastern Connecticut received similar FALSE reports of an active shooter at their schools,” Norwich Police wrote in a Facebook post on Friday.
Stamford High School in Stamford received a false report of an active shooter before 9 a.m., according to Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons. The school was placed into lockdown and then the remainder of Stamford schools were also put into lockdown until the threat was investigated out of “an abundance of caution,” Simmons said.
The Stamford Police Department investigated the threat and determined it was not credible around 9:30 a.m., Simmons said. The lockdown was lifted and classes resumed.
Simmons said other school districts in Fairfield County received similar calls, echoing a report from the Darien Police Department on Friday.
The Darien Police Department said it was aware of “several non-credible threats” toward schools in Fairfield County on Friday. Officers were stationed at schools in Darien for the rest of the day, police said.
Other unconfirmed reports included schools in Bridgeport, East Hartford, Danbury, Stonington, Vernon, Wallingford and Westport.
Mike Mavredakis can be reached at mmavredakis@courant.com or via Twitter @MikeMavredakis.
