A probable swatting call prompted police activity at Mariner High School in Cape Coral, Florida, on Thursday afternoon, but authorities have now given the all-clear.
After a brief lockdown, the school will resume its regular dismissal procedures for children.
Lockdown was also implemented at Mariner Middle as a safety measure.
The school district said that the swatting call would cause the buses to be late. Due to increased traffic, the school district is also requesting that people stay away from the area.
What is swatting?
Swatting is a criminal harassment technique that involves manipulating an emergency service into sending a police or emergency service response team to someone else’s address (for example, by faking an emergency services dispatcher).
This is brought on, among other things, by a false report of a significant law enforcement emergency, such as a bomb threat, murder, hostage crisis, or a false claim of a mental health emergency, such as a report that a person is supposedly suicidal or homicidal and may or may not be armed.
The phrase originated from the SWAT (special weapons and tactics) law enforcement unit, a specialist branch of American law enforcement. These units are called to high-risk situations and are armed with tactical equipment and weapons that are different from patrol units.
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Schools and places of business might be evacuated in the event of danger. Due to its usage as a form of intimidation and the possibility of injury or death, activists have asked for swatting to be classified as terrorism.
In many jurisdictions, making false reports to emergency services is a crime that carries a fine or possible jail time. A California man was given a 20-year prison term in March 2019 for carrying out a fatal swatting in 2017.
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Swatting has a significant danger of violence, as well as the potential for liability should something go wrong and the city or county is forced to spend tax money responding to a fictitious claim of a serious law enforcement emergency.
Swatters in California are responsible for the “full cost” of the response, which can result in fines of up to $10,000 if the swatting causes significant bodily harm or death.
