FBI Warns Universities as Swatting Hoaxes Surge Nationwide

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a nationwide alert, urging students and faculty to remain vigilant amidst a dramatic increase in ‘swatting’ hoaxes targeting universities across the United States. This surge in false active shooter reports has triggered chaotic armed police responses and widespread panic on campuses as the new academic semester commences.

Since last week, nearly a dozen universities have been impacted by these dangerous pranks, leading to lockdowns, evacuations, and immense distress. Incidents include two separate threats at Villanova University in just four days, and a major lockdown at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where students reported fleeing classrooms to find armed officers in hallways. Other affected institutions include Iowa State University, the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Northern Arizona University, the University of South Carolina, Doane University, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Colorado Boulder, and Kansas State University.

Swatting, which involves making fake emergency calls to deploy a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, has seen a growing popularity. The FBI emphasized that these hoaxes not only drain critical law enforcement resources and incur significant costs but, most importantly, put innocent lives at risk. The agency, which established a database in 2023 to track such threats, is actively investigating the latest wave of incidents and collaborating with local law enforcement partners to address this escalating threat.

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