SWATTING MEANING: A deceitful, false or hoax calls, messages or publications that bring the immediate response of the law enforcement agencies to a location. This may be false reporting such as a bomb threat, shooting, hostage situation, or other emergency situations.
It’s called “swatting”—making a hoax call to 9-1-1 to draw a response from law enforcement, usually a SWAT team, according to FBI. It is a serious crime, and one that has potentially dangerous consequences.
Swatting calls have been reportedly received around U.S. schools in the past months, with some using TTY, prank calls, or social engineering to hide their caller identity.
Over the years, there has been over three hundred and fifty (350) swatting calls across schools in the U.S., according to AP News. Such calls has been a concurrent happening around U.S. schools lately.
In February 2023, Twin Falls Idaho Police responded to a call about a supposed shooting at the school campus of Canyon Ridge High on N College Rd W which turned out to be a swatting call.
As reported by NPR, a call received by the Idaho’s Twin Falls Police Department dispatch center, the caller claimed that shots were fired at Canyon Ridge High School, which left at least a person injured in a classroom. The caller continued that the shooter was still at large at the time of the call.
According to SNBC13, Twin Falls’ Police responded to the school campus and found no signs of a shooting during a sweep of the building, according to scanner traffic. Students were evacuated from the school and have been dismissed from classes for the day, the district said. There is no threat to the public.
Effects of Swatting Calls
Injuries or deaths have been the greatest effects of these swatting calls as SWAT teams are usually urgently dispatched to the locations in response to the call and when the tactical team arrives, they are usually ready for a possible violent encounter.
According to the FBI, swatting calls are dangerous to both first responders and victims. FBI says communities that experience swatting face dangers as responders rush to the scene and leave the force’s resources depleted for other emergencies in the area.
In 2017, a police officer in Wichita, Kansas, shot and killed a man while responding to a hoax emergency call, AP reported.
In 2020, 60-year-old Mark Herring died of a heart attack after police responded to false reports of a woman being killed at Herring’s house, New York Times reported.
In the case of the recent Swatting at the school campus of Canyon Ridge High on N College Rd W, parents and other locals were immediately panicked, demanding answers while also insisting that the Police Chief was lying to them even after they had been reassured that the school was clear and there was no shooter.
We hope that an end be put to swatting calls and proper measures are being put to avoid and curb these criminal acts that is causing unnecessary panic and misinforming the public.
