Crime & Safety
New Hampshire Safety Officials Monitoring Latest School Threats
NH Department of Safety: Multiple calls reporting active threats at schools were reported all around the state on Thursday.
CONCORD, NH — State officials have confirmed they are monitoring several reports of active threats at schools in New Hampshire Thursday.
The threats began between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Patch has confirmed reports in Berlin, Claremont, and Concord.
Vanessa Palange, a community outreach coordinator for the New Hampshire Department of Safety, said there were “multiple calls reporting active threats” at schools around the state.
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“Multiple state agencies are assisting local law enforcement agencies that are responding to those calls and with the investigation into those calls,” she said. “The New Hampshire Information and Analysis Center is assisting by sharing information among local, state, and federal partners.”
In Concord, around 9:45 a.m., dispatch received a call from a man with a foreign accent claiming to be armed with an AR-15 while entering the Concord High School. After searching the school, police confirmed it was a hoax.
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In Claremont, according to police, a dispatcher also received a call from a man claiming a shooting was underway at the city’s middle school.
In the background, police said, the dispatcher heard guns being fired. Officers arrived to the school and determined the call was a hoax, and they notified the state and local police about the call.
A similar call was also reported in Berlin, according to Concord police dispatch.
Palange said this was the second time New Hampshire has received similar threats to schools in recent months. A previous incident occurred in December 2022, which led teams of first responders to several schools, including St. John Regional School in Concord.
“Those incidents were found to be untrue and hoaxes,” she said.
Palange added that Thursday’s reports were believed to be a hoax at this time. However, “all threats will be taken seriously until such time as their validity is determined.”
Suspicious activity, she said, should be reported to local police.
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