Westport Police Release Details On False 'Swatting' Report At Staples

WESTPORT, CT — A report of an active shooter at Staples High School Friday morning led to lockdowns at the school and Bedford Middle School next door, but the incident was deemed by police to be a hoax, one of several similar fake reports at schools throughout the region, according to authorities.

Details about the incident — referred to as "Swatting" — were released Friday afternoon (see statement from Westport police below). Westport Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice said police had the scene cleared before 11 a.m. and the lockdowns have been lifted.

"Please know your students are in very safe hands right now," Scarice wrote in a message to parents. "The police have every reason to believe that the lockdown was a false alarm, as multiple schools across the State received the same threat."

Here is the full statement from Westport police about Friday's swatting incident:

On October 21, 2022, at approximately 9:10 a.m., Westport’s Emergency Communications Center received a call from a person who was reporting that there was an active shooter inside Staples High School. The patrol and detective divisions as well as officers in administrative rolls immediately went to the school. As officers were responding, contact was established with the School Resource Officer who stated that there was no indication of a problem at the location. This led the department to believe that this may be what is referred to as a “swatting” call. 1 Despite the possibility of this being a hoax, the high school was placed on lock down and the police department proceeded as if there was an active threat.

Once on scene, teams of officers checked the entire school to confirm there was no shooter. This exhaustive search included checking each room within the high school as well as all common areas. Nothing of concern was discovered which confirmed our belief that the call reporting the active shooter was in fact a hoax. It is our understanding that other schools throughout the state received the same call.

Out of an abundance of caution, officers will be stationed at all of Westport’s schools for the remainder of the day.

The outstanding communication between the police and school officials allowed this incident to run smoothly. Additionally, the members of the police department were incredibly impressed
with the composure exhibited by students and faculty alike in the face of a very freighting
situation.

The police department’s detective bureau has assumed control of this investigation and are
looking to identify the caller.

We would like to thank the Norwalk, Fairfield, Wilton, and Weston police departments for the assistance they provided during the incident.

Schools in both Stamford and Bridgeport reported similar false swatting reports.

"All necessary precautions were taken and in an abundance of caution, Stamford police made the decision to lock down all Stamford Public schools until the threat was vetted," Stamford city officials said in a statement. "Stamford police determined that the report was a hoax."