MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 in Sept. 2022.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's (BCA) Minnesota Fusion Center is investigating a number of fake school shooting calls made in recent days.
According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, eight hoax calls, often known as swatting calls, were made in a span of two days to Minnesota 911 call centers. It appears all the calls came from the same person, who used Voice Over IP to conduct calls.
The FBI defines swatting as a "form of harassment" meant to deceive emergency service providers into sending police and other first responders to another address under fall pretenses.
St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay confirms his office was among those targeted, saying 911 dispatchers received "several calls" during the noon hour Tuesday referencing school shootings. Additional calls went directly to police departments and media outlets as well, and fortunately, all were determined to be false.
In all of 2022, 27 fake school shooting calls were reported in Minnesota, 17 of which happened in September alone, the BCA said.
Around the same time, dozens of false active shooter threats were reported in schools across the country, in Texas, California, Florida, Arkansas, Oregon, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma.
According to NBC affiliate KSNT, on Wednesday a number of fake active shooter calls were made to Kansas high schools. Local police are investigating the source of the calls, but said at this point all the threats were unfounded.
"This is an extremely big deal and it’s extremely disheartening to us when we see this activity," Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota BCA, told KARE 11 in September. "Unfortunately, in the U.S. we’ve had too many instances of real active shooters in our schools and communities. So when this happens it creates extreme panic in our schools and our community, from all our parents that send their kids to school everyday in a safe environment."
To help people accurately report potential threats, the BCA created a statewide reporting system in 2021 with the "See It, Say It, Send It" app. Through the app, people can submit tips to the BCA about potential threats, and the agency will contact local law enforcement as needed to respond to any criminal activity.
In the event of an ongoing incident or immediate threat, call or text 911 first.
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