Multiple MA Schools Receive 'Hoax' Threats In 2 Days: Police

Several schools across Massachusetts received threatening phone calls Monday and Tuesday, all of which have since been determined to be hoaxes.

Tuesday saw suspected swatting calls to schools in Duxbury and Concord, while similar calls were made Monday to high schools in Amesbury, Charlestown, East Boston, North Attleboro, Westfield, and Chelmsford and to a Cape Cod elementary school.

Concord Police confirmed at 11:25 a.m. Tuesday that there was heavy police presence at Middlesex School but "no threat at this time."

The Regional Old Colony Communications Center announced in a tweet Tuesday afternoon that all schools in Duxbury are in lockdown "from a suspected swatting" pending searches of the buildings but there is no active shooter.

In a statement Tuesday, Massachusetts State Police said it assisted various local police departments following bomb and shooting threats, all of which were hoaxes. The department said it's investigating the source of the threats.

The Chelmsford Police Department's Chief James Spinney wrote in a Monday news release that the department received a call at around 12:17 p.m. by a person saying that they intended to cause harm and inflict damage at Chelmsford High School.

The school was put in a "hold in place" while police searched the school grounds and the building before determining that the call was a hoax and there was no threat, police said.

Chelmsford Police explained that the call is being investigated as an act of “swatting,” which according to Oxford Language is “the action or practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.”

The school day was also disrupted at Amesbury High School Monday, when the Amesbury Police Department said they received a morning call from a person claiming that they had a firearm near the school before the dispatcher heard what sounded like gunshots.

The school was locked down and police rushed to the scene before authorities were able to conclude that the school was not in danger, police said.

"Swatting calls like the one we received today use a tremendous amount of police and emergency resources, diverting those resources away from other potential emergencies," Chief Bailey said.

The phrase "swatting" was entered the dictionary in 2015 and has been recognized as a criminal phenomenon by the FBI since at least 2008.