News Update

Bogus calls of school shootings are rising across the country, NPR reports

Fake reports of school shootings being called in to police are on the rise across the country, National Public Radio reported.

In a story that aired on the network’s Weekend Edition program, host Scott Simon talked about the troubling phenomenon that is throwing schools, police, and parents into panicked situations.

“Over the last three weeks, schools across the U.S. have been targeted by a new wave of hoax calls. Somebody calls the school or local dispatch to say an active shooter is on the campus and that some people have already been shot. The school is then put on lockdown. Police swarm the scene. And in some cases, panicked parents rush to the location,” Simon reported.

NPR found as many as 114 recent calls in 19 states and the District of Columbia of bogus claims of school shootings.

Some of the calls may be coming from outside the United States, NPR domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef told Simon. In one case, police in Minnesota traced a call that came directly from Ethiopia, she said.

The FBI is investigating, she said.