‘Swatting’ incidents in at least 10 towns send schools into lockdown

A series of hoax threats caused school lockdowns in at least 10 Connecticut communities Friday morning, officials said.

Officials said they are investigating whether the timing of the threats intentionally coincided with the funeral for two slain

Bristol police officers in East Hartford where thousands of law enforcement members from across the state and beyond were gathered.

“I don’t think it was a coincidence,” Windsor Locks Detective Sgt. Jeff Lampson said. “These thugs are opportunistic.”

In addition to Windsor Locks where a fake shooting was reported at the middle school, the hoax threats were confirmed in Westport, Stamford, Bridgeport, Guilford, Torrington, Enfield, Norwich, Windham and Groton.

In each case, the caller had a similar accent and referenced a school shooter, Lampson said.

In a statement, Connecticut Education Association President Kate Dias called the alleged threats “shocking, appalling and downright dangerous,” noting similar incidents had been reported in New Jersey, California, Florida, South Carolina and other states in recent days.

“The rash of these fake emergency calls places communities in danger as first responders rush to the scene in force and are pulled away from real emergencies. For Connecticut, these false incidents are extremely traumatic and painful and a vivid reminder of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took 26 innocent lives nearly 10 years ago,” Dias said. “We must all do our part to be diligent and report anything suspicious and work with law enforcement to put an end to this public safety threat.”

In Westport, those at Staples High School and the adjacent Bedford Middle School were told to shelter in place after police received the threatening call around 9 a.m.

As police investigated for about an hour Friday morning, a loud alarm could be heard blaring from the middle school.

The schools were deemed safe and resumed as usual by mid-morning, Westport police said.

Westport Police Lt. David Wolf said the department received a call through its emergency communications center, reporting an active shooter at Staples High School.

“Information we developed very quickly led us to believe this possibly could be a hoax, given the fact that we were communicating with our school resource officer who was in the school as well as some of the information that the caller was giving, didn’t seem to make a lot of sense to us,” Wolf said.

Wolf said police searched the school and determined there was no danger or threat to students and staff.

“Nothing of concern was located during our search of the building,” Wolf said.

“There will be a full investigation as to the facts and circumstances regarding the call. I will say, we’re not sure where the investigation’s going to lead us. We’re not leaning toward it being a student within the school, only because we believe there’s other incidents occurring, similar, throughout the state,” he said.

Swatting is when hoax calls are made to police in an effort to generate a large law enforcement response.

One of them caused a brief lockdown of Stamford High School. Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin said his department is working with federal authorities and other affected districts to track down who is behind the incidents.

Bridgeport Superintendent Michael Testani said a call in his city targeted Harding High School.

Enfield police also said they investigated a reported shooting and found no evidence of violence.

Other school districts, including Brookfield, Norwalk and Greenwich, said they did not receive threats, but were closely monitoring the situation. In Norwalk, some outdoor activities were moved inside as a precaution, officials said.