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Mason City schools and Clear Lake schools among those in Iowa “swatted” today with fake threats

DES MOINES - Bad-intentioned calls reporting shootings at schools were made across the state of Iowa today, sending authorities and education officials scrambling to secure the safety of students and personnel.

DES MOINES – Bad-intentioned calls reporting shootings at schools were made across the state of Iowa today, sending authorities and education officials scrambling to secure the safety of students and personnel.

In Mason City, police said, “This morning dispatch received a call of a report of a shooting at the Mason City High School. Officers responded and found that school was operating normally. Everything was secure – no one was injured. Several school districts across the state received similar calls this morning. We have referred the matter to our law enforcement partners at the state level for follow-up.”

In Clear Lake, police said, “This morning we received one phone call reporting a shooting at the high school. While officers were en route, the high school went on lockdown. It was determined the call was false. This type of call, known as swatting, was reported to be occurring throughout the state today. No one was injured and officers and school staff checked the area.”

Other schools in larger metro areas received similar type of calls. In Iowa City, the public safety department said, “ICPD is in communication with the Iowa City Community School District regarding ‘swatting calls’ being made across the country, including ICCSD, referencing active shooter situations in the schools. These calls are not credible.”

Top-level Iowa public safety officials and Governor Kim Reynolds all attempted to address the matter today, to re-assure jittery parents that all was well.

A “swatting call” refers to a false claim intended to trigger an immediate and widespread law enforcement deployment or emergency service response to a specific location. Hoax reports such as the ones experienced today commonly consist of claims of serious violent attacks, such as a bomb threat, active shooter, and/or a hostage situation.

Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan K. Bayens said these false reports are a tactic intended to illicit a large-scale law enforcement response. “The design of it is to create confusion and chaos. It’s designed to draw a large law enforcement presence to a school even though there is no active threat. And by all accounts and for all intents and purposes, it appears thus far that is what Iowa experienced today.”

Bayens said today’s swatting calls impacted the following communities:

• Cedar Rapids
• North Liberty
• Iowa City (multiple schools)
• Clinton
• Davenport
• Muscatine
• Cerro Gordo County
• Story County
• Lee County (multiple schools)
• Waterloo
• Boone
• Mason City
• Charles City
• Clear Lake
• Creston
• Des Moines
• Oskaloosa
• Marshalltown
• Monona
• Nevada
• North Liberty
• Ottumwa
• Decorah

Immediately after receiving these calls, local law enforcement and school officials reported all relevant information to the Department’s Division of Intelligence and Fusion Center, which then re-disseminated the information to local law enforcement agencies throughout the state. Bayens said this proactive information sharing allows schools and law enforcement to better determine their response protocols should one of their schools receive a similar call. “By reporting these calls to us, we can quickly inform our school and law enforcement partners, which in this case may have impacted the nature of their response and stemmed the flow of more calls to other communities,” Bayens said.

The Department is continuing to work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate and identify the caller. Bayens said the initial information leads investigators to believe the calls are similar in nature and likely originated from a single source.

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