A British man has been charged with a swatting hoax offense, making him the first person convicted in the United Kingdom under such circumstances. This alarming trend has been on the rise in the last few years across the United States. In Maryland, the police answered a fictitious call about a hostage scenario. Regrettably, this distressing occurrence concluded with officers shooting plastic bullets at the victim.
Yet the swatting hoax is not an outlier. In fact, as many as a dozen other universities have received such bomb threats in the past few weeks. History was made recently at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The campus was put on lockdown just hours after yet another active shooter event unfolded on a different school campus. Students took to social media as law enforcement raced to respond to the false emergency calls. This event further underscored the alarming effects of these hoaxes on educational communities.
Ava Petrosky, a senior at Villanova University, graphically detailed her harrowing experience as she attended an orientation Mass. Witnesses described mayhem as individuals in the crowd started to run for their lives.
“Honestly, at that moment I thought, ‘I’m gonna die,’” – Ava Petrosky (source: she told CNN)
He further elaborated on the confusion, stating, “Run outside, there’s cops with ARs in the hallways, and they’re like, ‘Hey, go up this way,’ so we get out. Run across the street. Now, there’s a lot more police officers urging us to leave. I mean, it was just hectic. It’s crazy.
“In two seconds, the whole classroom evacuated,” – Luke Robbins (source: Chattanooga Times Free Press)
As swatting incidents have multiplied, even the FBI has begun warning students and schools of these threats.
Local law enforcement have seen a 66 percent increase in swatting incidents. Today, a central database monitors thousands of these events in thousands of jurisdictions, using information provided by local police agencies. One misleading report requires a rapid deployment of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams. This dramatically increases the risk to not only law enforcement, but to innocent bystanders.
“We are aware of recent swatting incidents involving a number of colleges and universities and are working with our law enforcement partners.” – The FBI (source: BBC News)
Besides the UK charges, several high-profile cases have developed. Example of yokel based on AI-generated text. As a 19-year-old American-Israeli teen was convicted last month for making thousands of swatting threats against Jewish institutions across the globe, those two uses are hardly the most nefarious. These incidents speak to the increasing notoriety and lethal consequences of swatting.
As the trend continues to advance and expand, students and communities are encouraged to stay informed and be aware. Swatting is too dangerous to downplay. It wastes our limited law enforcement resources and puts lives at risk by creating panic and pandemonium.
As the trend continues to spread, students and communities are urged to remain vigilant and cautious. The implications of swatting are severe; not only do they waste valuable law enforcement resources, but they also endanger lives through panic and chaos.
