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Federal authorities investigate a case about false threats of school shootings
https://www.npr.org/2022/11/28/1139388765/federal-authorities-investigate-a-case-about-false-threats-of-school-shootings(4 min. audio at link)
Federal authorities investigate a case about false threats of school shootings
November 28, 2022 5:02 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
ODETTE YOUSEF
4-Minute Listen
One individual may be responsible for hundreds of false reports of active shooters across the U.S. The hoaxes have raised awareness of "swatting," and how it may be a national security threat.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Federal authorities continue to investigate hundreds of swatting hoaxes that appear to be tied to a single person. An NPR analysis indicates that the same man with a foreign accent has been calling schools and public safety agencies, falsely claiming that an active shooter is on a school campus. The calls have prompted police responses, with officers swarming the school, often with guns drawn. Can schemes of this kind pose a threat to national security? NPR's domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef reports.
ODETTE YOUSEF, BYLINE: In early September, an elementary school in Kent, Ohio, received a call. A man was threatening to go to the school with a rifle. One parent called city dispatch. She'd heard about the threat while on the phone with her child's case manager.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PARENT: But while I was on the phone, I hear on the loudspeaker, lockdown. This is not a drill. Everybody lockdown. And then the case manager hung up the phone. And I don't know what to do.
UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: OK. We've got officers going to check on them.
[...]
November 28, 2022 5:02 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
ODETTE YOUSEF
4-Minute Listen
One individual may be responsible for hundreds of false reports of active shooters across the U.S. The hoaxes have raised awareness of "swatting," and how it may be a national security threat.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Federal authorities continue to investigate hundreds of swatting hoaxes that appear to be tied to a single person. An NPR analysis indicates that the same man with a foreign accent has been calling schools and public safety agencies, falsely claiming that an active shooter is on a school campus. The calls have prompted police responses, with officers swarming the school, often with guns drawn. Can schemes of this kind pose a threat to national security? NPR's domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef reports.
ODETTE YOUSEF, BYLINE: In early September, an elementary school in Kent, Ohio, received a call. A man was threatening to go to the school with a rifle. One parent called city dispatch. She'd heard about the threat while on the phone with her child's case manager.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PARENT: But while I was on the phone, I hear on the loudspeaker, lockdown. This is not a drill. Everybody lockdown. And then the case manager hung up the phone. And I don't know what to do.
UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: OK. We've got officers going to check on them.
[...]
