Central and Oakland Catholic among schools across Pennsylvania to receive ‘computer-generated swatting calls;’ FBI and state police investigate

By HEATHER LANG

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    PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Pennsylvania State Police are investigating a series of hoax phone calls made to 911 centers on Wednesday that prompted numerous schools across the state to enter lockdowns or go into evacuation mode.

Two of those schools are in the heart of Pittsburgh — both Central and Oakland Catholic High Schools.

The calls are believed to be “computer-generated swatting calls,” state police said. They are hoax calls made to emergency officials which aim to cause large police responses.

The calls all had similar content and claimed threats of an active shooter or a bomb, state police said.

They are being actively investigated, and “at this time, all claims in these calls have been determined to be false,” state police said.

“The PSP has responded to all incidents in our primary coverage areas and has been in contact with municipal law enforcement partners investigating these incidents in their coverage areas,” state police said.

The FBI is also following the events and investigation. They said they take “swatting calls very seriously.”

“FBI Pittsburgh is aware of the numerous swatting incidents wherein a report of an active shooter at a school is made. 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.”

Law enforcement swarmed Oakland where both Central and Oakland Catholic are located on Wednesday morning.

Pittsburgh Public Safety officials asked parents and students from Central Catholic to gather at the Oakland Quad Cathedral of Learning and Oakland Catholic students and parents to come together at St. Paul Cathedral.

“I think everyone here can see the amount of police resources that responded today, not only from Pittsburgh police, but other agencies,” Acting Pittsburgh Police Chief Thomas Stangrecki said. “Certainly an active shooter is our first priority. We have resources throughout the city, county, state — certainly manpower intensive but worth the effort to make sure everyone was safe and no one was hurt.”

In a statement, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh said both high schools will start their Easter breaks early. Students and employees have been offered emotional support.

The Oakland Catholic administration said it understands how students and staff need to be with their families after the “stressful situation.”

University of Pittsburgh campus police and Carnegie Mellon University reported the large police presence in Oakland to their students. They told their students to avoid the area while police completed their sweep and investigation.

Police at Pitt put the campus on lockdown for a time in the morning, but it has been deemed safe to reopen, officials said.

Mayor Ed Gainey said he is thankful no student was injured.

“I’m just glad nothing happened; and to the parents, we all got to work together,” Mayor Gainey said. “At the end of the day, this is happening everywhere, we hear this hoax is going on throughout America. Our greatest asset is our children, we got to keep them safe and we have to continue to work together.”

Also on modified lockdowns, the Administration Building and Pittsburgh Science and Technology of Pittsburgh Public Schools, authorities said. City schools are on modified lockdown for the rest of the day, officials said.

Hospitals and emergency officials in Pittsburgh are also on heightened alert.

UPMC released this statement through a spokesperson: “Our emergency and trauma teams are always prepared to provide various levels of care and trained to respond accordingly. We have had no verified incidents in communities served by UPMC.”

Allegheny County 911 said in a statement that they received three separate calls reporting situations at three separate schools.

“We are also aware that similar reports are coming in for schools outside of the county. In each instance, law enforcement is responding but believe that these are false reports. Thus far, there has been no active shooter found and no injuries at any school. Law enforcement will continue to thoroughly check out any reports,” Allegheny County 911 said.

In addition, Pittsburgh Regional Transit re-routed several buses due to the activity in Oakland.

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, the state police barracks at Hollidaysburg and Rockview said they responded “to active shooter threats at local schools that have been called in by telephone.”

State police said they believe the calls to be “computer-generated swatting calls.”

“We are treating each incident with standard law enforcement protocols,” state police said on Twitter.

The Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators said they were also aware of the incidents. They said all of most of the calls came “from the same California phone number.”

Other schools in Western Pennsylvania that have received calls include the Laurel Highlands School District, Hopewell Area School District and New Castle High School.

Officials at North Hills School District sent this electronic letter to their families in response to these reports.

“The North Hills School District has been informed that there have been multiple false reports of active shooters at schools in the Pittsburgh area and across the nation this morning, March 29, 2023.

“We have been in contact with Ross Township police and all of the reports are false.

“As always, thank you for your understanding and cooperation.”

Norwin School District administrators said they are also aware of the incidents but have not gotten any threats.

“Swatting is the 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.

“Today’s reports have been from a foreign-speaking male, reporting that there are six victims in a bathroom. The North Huntingdon Township Police are aware of the situation and are monitoring it closely for the safety of the schools.

“The District has not received a call with this threat.”

The Bellefonte Area School District, Altoona Area School District and Leighton Area School District had to deal with similar incidents. Officials in Altoona called their incident a hoax.

On Facebook, they said in part: “There were no shots fired and no injuries reported. The buildings have been cleared and school is continuing. A message was sent to all families.”

The state police investigation continues.

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