Akron's Garfield CLC shooting hoax part of trend of hoaxes reported
A hoax school shooting was reported at Akron's Garfield CLC on Friday, part of a larger recent trend of hoax school shootings and bomb threats reported around the state and across the country.
Akron Police Lt. Michael Miller said the incident was a "hoax/swatting-type call" and said it was the first such incident in the Akron area that he was aware of.
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"Swatting" is making a hoax call to law enforcement to deliberately cause a large police or SWAT team response. Sometimes, an individual does it to single out someone specific, but the calls can also be done in waves as a trend to seemingly random targets.
Akron Public Schools spokesperson Mark Williamson said the school's principal "issued an all call to our Garfield families quickly to reassure them this was a hoax." Williamson said some parents came to the school to take students home early.
The single call was made at 11:38 a.m. Friday. Nothing was found at the school, Miller said, calling it a "baseless report."
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The text of the phone call from Principal Charles Morrison to Garfield families at 12:30 p.m. Friday is below:
"Good afternoon Garfield CLC families and staff. At approximately 11:45 am there was a false call reported to the Akron Police Department. The report stated there was an active shooter at Garfield CLC. The Akron Police Department arrived in less than a minute of the call. The school was immediately put on lockdown until the threat was deemed to be false. The building was searched by responding officers within minutes. I want to thank teachers and students for their quick reactions to the lockdown. I also want to thank Akron police for their quick response and for helping to confirm this was a false call. Thank you parents for trusting us with your students. Safety is always the utmost concern. I want to thank you again and have an excellent weekend. Thank you."
Officials say there's been a wave of false reports of school shootings and threats of violence over the last several days. USA TODAY found at least 30 active shooter false alarms and threats made at schools last week.
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Authorities haven't publicly said the incidents are related, but experts say these intentional false reports have similarities. Their origins can be difficult or impossible to trace, but waves of false alarms are often the work of disgruntled pranksters trying to disrupt school or malicious bad actors trying to sow fear. And such hoaxes seem to increase around this time of year with students returning to classrooms.
USA TODAY contributed reporting to this article.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hoax school shooting reported at Garfield CLC in Akron
