Advertisement

Hoax school shooting threats target campuses, lead to lockdowns across North Carolina

Hoax threats across North Carolina on Thursday led to schools being locked down and police responding to campuses.

Threats of shootings on school campus were reported Thursday in multiple North Carolina counties, including Wake, Durham, Mecklenburg, New Hanover, Alamance, Forsyth and Cumberland, according to school districts and media reports.

Authorities described these “swatting” calls as being part of a nationwide trend of fake 911 calls.

“Burlington Police have determined the 911 call today at Williams High was part of a hoax that claimed tragic incidents were happening on campus,” the Alamance-Burlington school system tweeted Thursday. “The same number that called 911 made similar calls regarding other schools in the state today.”

Prank calls across the state

In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, four schools were impacted by a prank call — West Charlotte, Olympic and Mallard Creek high schools and the Northwest School of the Arts, according to Cassie Fambro, a media relations specialist.

In a note to families, principals said law enforcement immediately investigated and deemed the hoaxes not credible.

The principals told families that CMS schools take “these matters very seriously and, out of an abundance of caution, law enforcement is on campus.”They added that any student involved in pranks of any kind is in violation of the Student Code of Conduct and may face criminal charges.

In Raleigh, Leesville Road High, Leesville Road Middle and Leesville Road Elementary were all placed on a code red lockdown for 10 minutes after a threat was called into the high school.

In an email to Leesville parents, the Wake County school system told families that law enforcement quickly determined the threat was a hoax.

In Durham, Hillside High School was locked down for less than an hour after a report of a shooter on campus turned out to be a hoax.

“We have to make sure that our students and staff feel safe,” said Crystal Roberts, a Durham Public Schools spokeswoman.

The hoax calls come during a period of heightened fear of mass shootings at schools and other places.

There have been 46 school shootings in the United States this year and 139 since 2018 that have resulted in deaths or injuries, according to Education Week’s 2022 School Shooting Tracker. This year’s school shootings have resulted in 36 deaths and 95 injuries.