Same man seems to have made hoax active shooter calls in Ohio

At least four of the 911 calls falsely reporting active shooters at Ohio high schools seem to have been made by the same person.

Recordings of the 911 calls from Princeton High School in Sharonville, Licking Valley High School in Newark, Catholic Central High School in Springfield and Garfield High School in Akron have been obtained by the Enquirer.

In all four calls, a man identifying himself as James Park gives similar details in the same heavy accent. He tells the 911 call takers that a gunman has opened fire and 10 students are wounded.

The caller says the gunman is carrying a rifle and wearing body armor. He mentions room 201, English class and that he is barricaded with students in an adjacent room.

There are variations in some of the details: the caller names each specific school, changes up the colors of the clothing and gives different return phone numbers.

Following the call regarding Princeton High School, police tracked the provided telephone number to Modesto, California where they found a 66-year-old man in “very poor health” who said that the phone number does not belong to him anymore.

The call naming Licking Valley High School provided a number with an area code from Palm Beach County in Florida. The caller did not provide a number during the 911 call to Springfield. That call disconnects as the call taker is asking for it.

All the incidents are still under investigation. The FBI issued a statement saying they are aware of “the numerous swatting incidents wherein a report of an active shooter at a school is made.”

The agency said they are working with local law enforcement, but declined to comment on details and have not answered questions regarding the incident.

The Enquirer is requesting 911 recordings from all the hoax incidents we’ve learned about in Ohio. At least 12 incidents were reported in Ohio on Friday and there have been dozens reported across the country in the past week.