What is Swatting and Why Has it Targeted Pennsylvania Schools?

Pennsylvania State Police are investigating a string of 911 calls that led to several schools receiving threats of an active shooter or bomb threat. This resulted in lockdowns and evacuations of the schools, and response from many law enforcement agencies. Although all claims in these calls have been determined to be false, the FBI is taking these "swatting calls" very seriously, as they put innocent people at risk. These swatting calls are computer-generated hoaxes designed to draw a large police response to a particular location - in this case, schools across the state. The police believe that the calls came from out of state and the FBI will be getting involved in the investigation.

Multiple schools across Pennsylvania, including Central Catholic and Oakland Catholic, Hopewell, Laurel Highlands, and New Castle schools, received such threats. Many Pennsylvania schools went into lockdown as a result, citing the abundance of caution. The University of Pittsburgh was also put on lockdown after a threat was made about a shooter at a nearby school. The calls are believed to be a hoax and the police are taking each incident with standard law enforcement protocols.

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