'Swatting' Incident Caused Lockdown At Notre Dame Fairfield HS: UPDATE

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield police responded to a "swatting" incident at Notre Dame Fairfield High School on Thursday afternoon, which led to a temporary lockdown of the school, according to authorities.

The lockdown has since been lifted and school operations have returned to normal. Students and staff are safe, as is the surrounding area, police said.

Fairfield police issued the following statement about the incident:

On April 11, 2024, shortly after 1:00 PM, the Fairfield Police responded to Notre Dame High School after a threat of violence was called into the school. The school was placed into lock down and police were promptly notified and responded. Officers completed a thorough assessment of the incident and determined that all students and staff were safe and that there was no active threat to the school or surrounding area. At this time, we believe this to be a swatting incident and that the call to the school was not made from the immediate area. The lock down was lifted and school operations, including dismissal, resumed as scheduled.

“Swatting” is a term used to describe the action of a hoax phone call to report a serious crime to
emergency responders and often cause alarm to the public based on the number of officers responding to the reported incident.

Fairfield Police will remain on scene through dismissal and are actively investigating the source of the phone call.