A carefully scripted “Swatting” call focused police attention on a small, quiet street in Lafayette Sunday, police and fire personnel swarming into the area and standing by until threats made in the call could be proven false.
Officers and deputies honoring a mutual aid protocol for potentially deadly incidents descended on East Street at approximately 12:25 p.m., proceeding with extreme caution before communication with an occupant of the home could be made.
Similar calls, flooding schools and towns across the country in recent months, have been made to police and almost always mention a homicide or “active shooter” scenario, a hostage situation, and weapons guaranteed to provoke an immediate and “heavy” police response.
The purpose? To call down unwarranted police attention on a chosen target, sometimes an individual but most recently local schools.
In the last several weeks, dozens of these calls have flooded schools across the country, including 50 school districts in New York state on April 4, 28 communities in Massachusetts on March 28, at least 12 in Wyoming on April 3, nine Missouri schools on March 27, and at least 30 in Iowa on March 21.
Such scams have come to be called “swatting” in reference to “SWAT teams” – heavily armed police that respond to active shooter incidents. Police have noted similar calls to schools in the 24/680, terrorizing students, school officials, and parents – often targeting groups of schools on the same day in a particular state.
Current phone technology makes it easy for almost anyone to obtain a phone number anonymously and to make that number difficult to trace. Police are aware of the trend and have adjusted their tactics accordingly.
Investigators have determined that many calls are made by young people hoping to victimize others, some randomly and others not, and hiding behind technology as they sow confusion and fear. They are not, however, perfectly anonymous and several transgressors have been located and prosecuted after making their calls.