Dozens of schools across New York were reeling Thursday from "swatting" incidents, which law enforcement officials characterized as unfounded threats of violence that targeted schools from Western New York to the central part of the state, the Capital Region and down to the Hudson Valley.
The developments frightened parents and students as the U.S. continued to grapple with the deadly school shooting earlier this week in Nashville.
The FBI took the threats seriously and asked anyone to report the suspicious activity, part of what is called “swatting.” Multiple law enforcement agencies said there were no confirmed incidents despite multiple calls of active-shooter events and other threats at several schools Thursday morning.
At the Mohonasen Central School District, Superintendent Shannon Shine said a threat came via phone and claimed an active shooter had already fired seven shots. At roughly the same time, a number of other schools in areas had already reported a similar threat, prompting lockdowns and a large response by law enforcement.
Shine said the district was prepared for such situations, as it conducts at least four lockdown drills a year. Faculty and staff were trained on how to lock the school down should an incident arise, and he said students knew how to respond accordingly.
“I’ve even been asked why not lock the school down out of an abundance of caution, just to be super sure? Well for one, the police were indicating that they were positive that this was false alarm," Shine said. "We had police on site and we had security on site. And had there actually been what was threatened, seven shots fired, I can assure you the building would’ve been locked down by numerous adults within seconds.”
Lockdowns in Albany, Troy, Schuylerville and Schodack were lifted as of 11:15 a.m.
Troy police say there was no active threat despite a call of an active shooting incident at the middle high schools. Police said there were no confirmed shots fired, and both students and staff members were safe. The school lifted a hold-in-place status shortly after 10 a.m. after a sweep of the building by law enforcement was completed.
Albany police said there are similar "unfounded" reports at Albany High School. The threat led to a lockdown for about 20 minutes, district officials said.
"There have been several swatting phone calls made across the Capital Region and state and we’re investigating," police said on social media.
North Greenbush police responded to "multiple reports of active shooter events at local schools," including Bell Top Elementary School. They, too, said there was no evidence of a threat.
The Rensselaer School District went on lockout as a precaution. Saratoga Springs school officials said they received "a fake swatting call" about an incident happening at the high school.
The Schodack school district said Maple Hill Junior/Senior High School went on lockdown, and the district office and Castleton Elementary lifted it just after 10:15 a.m.
Waterford-Halfmoon Union Free School District entered a lockout due to threats made. Glens Falls schools are on lockout until dismissal Thursday.
In the Hudson Valley, Kingston High School received a suspicious computer-generated call regarding possible violence at around 8:45 a.m., according to police and school officials. The call was determined to not be credible, according to police.
“This incident is suspected to be part of an unfortunate “swatting trend” that is impacting our nation and has now made it to our area,” Superintendent Paul J. Padalino said.
Elsewhere, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said just because they had information that the calls were fake, it didn’t change their response and how serious they take them.
“We just saw what happened just the other day in Nashville,” he said. “These are no joking matters, so we are going to aggressively respond to these calls, and we will follow all of our protocols.”
New York State Police released a statement on social media saying, "The State Police is aware of swatting incidents that have occurred across the state, in which a caller states that there is an active shooter in a school. All of the reports are unfounded. We are working alongside our federal & local partners to investigate the threats.”