On Wednesday, AlertsUSA subscribers were notified of another large wave of hoax 911 calls reporting active shooter incidents in K-12 schools across multiple states, including KS, NE, SD, ND, OH and DE.
Similar to our report on this topic 5 months ago, the calls are coordinated, grouped state-by-state and district-by-district, and they're ongoing. According to a report by the National Association of School Resource Officers, swatting calls have been received across 40 states.
The hoax calls are referred to as "swatting." The term denotes calls that falsely report an act of violence in progress or about to occur. In each instance, the resulting tactical law enforcement response must be treated as real and has sometimes ended tragically, though not in a school setting. That said, less than one month ago, police in Saginaw Township, MI police responded to a swatting call at a local school and forced entry into the building by ramming a police cruiser through the locked front doors.
Perhaps most curious are reports from authorities in several states saying many of the calls are originating from overseas using voice over IP technology similar to Skype or Vonage. The region from which the calls are being consistently traced is the Middle East and North Africa. It is believed that the campaigns are coordinated by a group of foreign actors and "swat-for-hire cybercriminals" who carry out hoax emergency calls in exchange for payment.
Readers are reminded that while certain incident types and tactics have received more media coverage than others, swatting scenarios have included bomb threats, active shooter reports, threats of an imminent shooting rampage, hostage scenarios, and threats involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) materials (PDF).
What remains the big unknown is the motive with the current multi-state wave of calls. Is the goal simply to spread fear, or perhaps an effort to gauge response times and tactics? Or perhaps to divert resources and focus law enforcement’s attention away from certain areas in a coordinated manner?
AlertsUSA urges continued caution, vigilance, and diligence on the part of teachers, administrators and other school employees.
AlertsUSA continues to monitor the domestic and international threat environment around the clock and will immediately notify service subscribers, via SMS messages to their mobile devices, of new alerts, warnings and advisories or any developments which signal a change the overall threat picture for American citizens as events warrant. |
