Hoax School Shooting Calls Worry Parents, Keep FL Police Racing

FLORIDA — Instead of investigating real crimes, frustrated law enforcement officers around Florida were kept busy Tuesday investigating a prank calls to more than a dozen schools reporting active shooters.

The calls came as attorneys began delivering closing arguments in the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz in Broward County. Three months of testimony have been gicen to determine if Cruz, who killed 14 students and three staff members at the high school, will receive the death penalty or life in prison.

On Tuesday at 12:22 p.m., a battalion of Pinellas Park and Largo police officers and Pinellas County sheriff's deputies raced to Pinellas Park High School in Largo after someone called in a report of an active shooting at the high school.

When law enforcement arrived, however, there was no active shooter — just a lot of alarmed students and teachers.

Despite the knowledge that a series of fake calls was being made to schools throughout Florida, Largo Police Chief Jeff Undestad said authorities had no choice but to treat every call as if it were real and lives were in danger.

"Law enforcement is taking these calls seriously and checking every call," he said.

Shortly before the call to Pinellas Park High School, St. Petersburg Catholic High School received a similar call, sending St. Petersburg police rushing to the school and prompting a flurry of phone calls from worried parents.

The response to a call of an active shooter at Riverview High School in Sarasota was equally vehement.

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"This afternoon was overwhelming for parents, students and community members alike," Sarasota Sheriff Kurt Hoffman posted on Facebook. "Just after 12:45, we received what detectives feel confident was a 'swatting' call to our 911 center. The caller indicated an active shooter at Riverview High School. Within minutes, just about every local law enforcement officer in Sarasota County responded, including two of our patrol deputies who rammed the main gate to gain entry into the school campus. There must have been at least 50 officers on scene within the first few minutes."

"Swatting" is a prank call to emergency services intended to cause a large number of law enforcement to be dispatched to a certain address.

That call also prompted a lockdown of the school while law enforcement searched every room in the high school.

"Although this may have been a hoax, it was treated, by all accounts, like a real, active incident, which is why we train as often as we do," Hoffman said.

Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk, whose agency is still working around the clock on Hurricane Ian rescues and cleanup efforts, said he was forced to declare a lockdown at Palmetto Ridge High School after the school received the same hoax call.

Rambosk said a call from outside the school indicating that an active shooter was in the school, prompted law enforcement and school staff to activate the safety protocols put in place after the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

"We can tell you that we are aware that hoax or swatting calls matching the description of this call have been made to 16 or more schools in Florida today," Rambosk said. "We will take each call seriously here, as the safety of our students and schools is our priority. We investigate each call thoroughly, including hoax and swatting calls, and will hold those responsible accountable to the fullest."

The sheriff also turned to Facebook to reassure parents.

"We can confirm that no active shooter situation or other emergency was found at PRHS," Rambosk said. "All students and staff are safe."

Around 10 a.m. active shooter calls were also made to Miami Central, Ronald Reagan, West Broward, Pompano Beach, Dillard and Boca Raton high schools.