bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Students at the University of South Carolina were sent into a panic when they received an active shooter alert and police rushed to the library.
The university had fielded two separate calls on Sunday that included sounds of gunfire.
But the reports turned out to be false, part of a wave of so-called “swatting” hoaxes that have targeted American universities as students returned to campuses for autumn classes.
Similarly baseless reports hit Villanova University and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga last week, and at least seven more schools on Monday including the University of Arkansas, according to campus alerts and school and police statements.

West Virginia University responded to yet another hoax Tuesday morning.
Experts warn that swatting - deliberately phoning in a false emergency to trigger a law enforcement response - traumatises students, depletes security resources and risks desensitising Americans to alerts in a country where mass shootings are a legitimate threat.
“It plays on our fears because bad things really do happen,” said former police chief John DeCarlo, a criminal justice professor at the University of New Haven.
“They can trigger, with just one call, lockdowns, mobilisations, closings of buildings and a lot of media coverage.”
The FBI said it is aware of the recent incidents targeting colleges and is “seeing an increase in swatting events across the country”.
The agency said it has received thousands of swatting reports since creating a database for law enforcement agencies to log incidents in 2023, adding that the practice “drains law enforcement resources, costs thousands of dollars, and, most importantly, puts innocent people at risk”.

At the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, first responders from at least 10 agencies were mobilised to the campus and cleared multiple buildings before concluding there was no threat.
The University of South Carolina said two students received minor injuries in the rush out of its library.
A third was falsely branded as a gunman after social media users and Congresswoman Nancy Mace shared footage of him carrying an umbrella that resembled a firearm.
Swatting began in gamer and hacker communities and has been wielded against judges, election officials and lawmakers in recent years.
Schools are “especially vulnerable” due to their visibility and student populations, DeCarlo said.
Keven Hendricks, a cybercrime expert, said perpetrators are frequently linked to extremist groups and ideologies and are often juveniles who are emboldened when they are not caught.
“A lot of swatters do it simply because they can.”
Experts called for stronger laws to combat the problem, as well as investments in technologies to identify callers who conceal their voices or IP addresses.
“It is, in reality, a form of domestic terrorism that’s very easy to get away with because we don’t have the wherewithal to investigate or prosecute it well,” DeCarlo said.
“It seems to be running away unbridled.”


AI race comes down to power and data centres – and China has the edge, says unicorn hunter

Who is Josh Hutcherson’s long-time girlfriend, Spanish actress Claudia Traisac?

Nio lidar supplier Seyond soars in Hong Kong debut after HK$1 billion de-SPAC merger

Tesla’s confidence in China; Chinese carmakers post stellar sales in November: 7 EV reads

United States

Shooting hoaxes are plaguing college campuses across the US

University of Arkansas students and employees on Monday as police respond to reports of a shooting. Photo: AP Photo

A mess of toppled chairs at the Villanova University campus where an active shooter was reported Thursday. Photo: AP

Law enforcement officers at the University of Arkansas campus on Monday. Photo: AP

Suspected gunman, police officer dead in shooting near US CDC and Emory University

A law enforcement officer walks under police line tape near the scene of an active shooter incident in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday. Photo: AFP

Law enforcement personnel and vehicles are seen near the Centres For Disease Control (CDC) Global Headquarters during an active shooter incident in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday. Photo: AFP

Police and emergency personnel respond to the scene of an “active shooter” situation near Emory University and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday. Photo: EPA

Police officers block off a road at Emory University Hospital, where a fellow police officer was taken after being shot by a gunman near Emory University and the CDC and was later declared dead, in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Texas police say 3 dead in Target store shooting, suspect arrested

Police at the scene of the shooting in Austin, Texas. Photo: Austin American-Statesman via AP

Police at the scene. Photo: Austin American-Statesman via AP

2 killed, 6 wounded in shooting at Los Angeles music festival after-party

The Los Angeles Coroner Medical Examiner arrives to remove bodies from the scene. Photo: AP

Lil Nas X pleads not guilty to attacking police as he walked naked on Los Angeles street

Lil Nas X arrives at the Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2022. Photo: Invision/AP

Lil Nas X, whose legal name is Montero Lamar Hill, in court in Los Angeles on Monday. Photo: Pool Photo via AP

Trump expands cities targeted for possible military deployment to Baltimore

Members of the US National Guard walk past the Capitol building in Washington. US President Donald Trump has threatened to expand his military deployments to Baltimore, Maryland. Photo: Zuma Press Wire / dpa

Maryland Governor Wes Moore in Annapolis, Maryland. Photo: Baltimore Sun / TNS

Reverend Al Sharpton speaks to reporters at Howard University’s Cramton Auditorium on Sunday. Photo: AP

News

World

United States & Canada

‘Swatting’ incidents prompt lockdowns and police responses as students return for classes


‘Swatting’ incidents prompt lockdowns and police responses as students return for classes.


Gun violence in the US

Crime

Shooting hoaxes are plaguing college campuses across the US

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}‘Swatting’ incidents prompt lockdowns and police responses as students return for classes

‘Swatting’ incidents prompt lockdowns and police responses as students return for classes