Fraudulent school shooting reports up in Minnesota this year; Mankato West hit Wednesday

It’s sad it’s come to this, but the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had news for all Minnesotans on Wednesday: swatting is up in Minnesota schools these days.

What is “swatting”? It’s when people make prank phone calls to law enforcement, reporting an active shooter or mass casualties at an area school.

Swatting isn’t a harmless prank. In all the confusion over law enforcement responding to a fake report of a shooting, innocent people have been killed or maimed in the past.

On the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 21, several schools across Minnesota were hit with fraudulent reports of  claims of active shooters in the school. None of the incidents was real. One report was at Mankato West High School. Mankato Public Safety responded to the call at 10:30 a.m. The entire school was searched, but police found there was no threat. Mankato police say several other schools in the region received similar calls providing identical details.

The Minnesota BCA says that if you hear rumors of a mass shooting going on in an area school, please be aware, but check with school authorities, law enforcement, and local media before panicking.