On Wednesday, police reacted to allegations of shootings at a number of Illinois schools, which officials later determined to be false.
According to the Illinois State Police, authorities in at least 12 municipalities across the state have received “threats against schools.”
In a statement, ISP stated that “response personnel have not identified any actual threats from these calls.” “At this time, the Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center of the Illinois State Police is not aware of any credible threats to school safety. Officials in charge of law enforcement, public safety, and private sector security are asked to exercise caution and report any unusual activity to their local counterparts.
After police reported a “false” shooting, with similar complaints, classes at Rockford East High School were canceled, the SATs were rescheduled, and students were fired.
“This is not the only report that came into the state today that was a stroke,” said Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd at a press conference. “Two other counties in the state were also the targets of swatting calls, and those calls were also dropped,” the speaker said. According to one county, the calls are thought to be a part of a “statewide trend.”
According to District 145 in Freeport, Illinois, the high school there was “part of a nationwide trend of what we now consider a prank call.”
“The call implied that there was an actual emergency, but there wasn’t. The police and several emergency agencies checked the structure thoroughly. We appreciate their prompt action, the district stated in a statement.
