Lexington, SC 10/05/2022 (Paul Kirby) – Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon and SC Attorney General Wilson used social media Wednesday to warn everyone that SWATTING, phoning in hoax calls to law enforcement, is not a laughing matter. It can land the perpetrator in big trouble with the law.
SWATTING has been a nationwide trend, often perpetrated by young people. Someone will call law enforcement and report a hoax incident that would be serious enough to require a heavy response from law enforcement. In some cases, agencies have mobilized their SWAT teams because of the serious nature of the false call.
Just this morning, someone called in a hoax shots fired call at Blythewood High School in Richland County. Most can imagine the panic this caused the student body, staff, and certainly everyone’s parents until the Richland County Sheriff’s Department cleared the school and determined it was a false call and there was no active shooter.
Attorney General Alan Wilson first published the following statement from the FBI regarding the practice. Sheriff Koon’s staff quickly picked it up and reshared it on their social media pages as well. This statement reads:
The FBI is aware of the numerous swatting incidents wherein a report of an active shooter at a school is made. Similar incidents have occurred recently across the country. The FBI takes swatting very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk. While we have no information to indicate a specific and credible threat, we will continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention. We urge the public to remain vigilant, and report any and all suspicious activity and/or individuals to law enforcement immediately.
SWATTING incidents have not been isolated to just schools. They have happened at malls, other businesses, and even at private homes. Sheriff Koon and the entire law enforcement community hope that parents will bring this issue to the attention of their children so that they can fully understand that the consequences of this behavior is heavy and this is no joke.
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