Multiple alleged 'swatting calls' of false active shooters made across southeastern Wisconsin school districts
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- At least seven schools and local law enforcement departments across southeastern Wisconsin have reported alleged "swatting calls" of active shooters that have been proven to be false alarms.
Affected schools included Rufus King High School in Milwaukee, South Milwaukee High School, Franklin High School, South High School in Sheboygan, Port Washington High School, Park High School in Racine, Bradford High School in Kenosha, and LakeView Technology Academy in Kenosha.
Police in those various communities responded to the calls and said they found no evidence of a shooting. But the situation led to confusion among students and parents at various schools.
In Kenosha, authorities received a call at 8:11 a.m. about an "active shooter" inside Bradford High School. Police said in a release, "a full-scale police response to the school commenced and consisted of local Kenosha area agencies as well as state and federal law enforcement."
"No evidence of a shooting was located," the release said.
That scenario played out throughout southeastern Wisconsin school districts.
The FBI released a statement saying it was aware of the situation.
"The FBI takes swatting very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk," the statement said. "While we have no information to indicate a specific and credible threat, we will continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention."
Several students at Rufus King High School left early on Thursday once the situation was resolved. One tells CBS58 they were in band class during first period when the threat came in and the school went into what she called "code red."
"I texted my mom, and I was like, 'I think this is a real code red this time because I'm getting videos of five squad cars, the dogs came inside, the cops came with big guns,'" sophomore Milan Sanchez said.
Sanchez said she was angry once she found out it was all a hoax.
"It was just crazy. I was like, 'wow, why would you prank the school like that?' It's not something to play around with. I have family that has died from shootings, and it's not something you should be playing around with. That is disrespectful," she said.
"Kids here are just trying to live normal lives. We've been traumatized enough from other schools that have actually gotten [shot at]. We're not trying to have that here. At King, at Reagan, at any school. It's not funny. We're scared sometimes to even come to school, because you never know what could happen."