Schools across the Midwest had to deal with a series of “swatting” calls on Wednesday.
The caller claimed there was an active shooter at the ‘high school’ in Chippewa Falls, but never specified which one. Chippewa Falls patrol sergeant Sheridan Pabst says the caller was very vague about details in the call. “There was a lot of red flags during the call to our dispatch center. That kind of indicated it was a false call.”
Chippewa Falls schools are currently on spring break, so there was no danger and no actual shooter. Pabst says swatting is dangerous because police have to treat it like it’s real.
“If we’re getting reports of shots being fired, we expect an armed confrontation until proven otherwise.”
Other swatting calls were sent to schools in Rice Lake, Superior, Wausau, and Spooner. Similar calls were received in schools in Minnesota and Iowa.