On Thursday morning, October 22, someone reported shots fired at Indian Lake Central School in upstate New York.
Officers raced in. They searched and secured the building. No shots had been fired.
The same day, a false report put Penn Yan's schools, in New York's Finger Lakes, on lockdown. Officers with dogs searched the high school, the middle school and the elementary school. 3 more schools nearby locked their doors while they waited.
In Lafayette, Louisiana, a caller claiming to be a student said there was a gun on campus. Deputies cleared 2 schools. They believe the call came from outside the parish, on a spoofed phone number.
The next day, a man called in a threat of gun violence at an elementary school in Deerfield, Wisconsin.
None of it was real. All of it was terrifying.
2 days, 4 states, 0 real threats
Swatting calls to schools reported October 22 and 23, 2026.
Sources: New York State Police; Penn Yan Police Department; Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office; Dane County Sheriff's Office
Investigators have not said whether these calls are connected. Earlier this month, a former student was charged with 2 felonies after a fake call about a gunman entering Hamilton Central School, also in New York.
I want to explain what is happening, because most parents only meet swatting at the worst possible moment: an alert on their phone that says their child's school is locked down.
What swatting is
Swatting is a fake emergency call made to send a large, armed police response to a place where nothing is happening. The name comes from SWAT teams.
Callers often hide behind spoofed phone numbers and internet calling services, and some call from other states or other countries. Some are teenagers who think it is a prank. Some want attention. Some just want to watch the chaos.
It is never harmless. In 2017, Andrew Finch was shot and killed by police at his own front door in Wichita, Kansas, after a swatting call sent officers to his home. The call was meant for someone else. The caller went to federal prison for 20 years.
The good news
School swatting is down sharply from its peak. The Educator's School Safety Network, which tracks threats and violence in American schools, counted 446 swatting incidents in the 2022 to 2023 school year. By 2024 to 2025, that number had fallen to 124.
Swatting incidents at K-12 schools
Fake emergency calls reported at schools, by school year.
Source: Educator's School Safety Network, as cited in U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice swatting guidance (September 2026)
That is a 72% drop in 2 years.
But 124 is still 124 school days interrupted by fear. And as last week showed, the calls come in waves.
Why every call still gets the full response
Some people ask why police keep sending so many officers to calls that keep turning out to be fake.
I understand the question. I will never be the one to tell police to slow down.
On February 14, 2018, every second mattered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. When a call comes in about a shooter at a school, nobody in that 911 center can know in the first minute whether it is a hoax or the worst day of a community's life. Last month, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice put it plainly in new guidance for schools: treat all threats as credible when they are received.
That is what makes swatting so cruel. Every fake call teaches students, staff and responders to doubt. And a school that has been through 3 hoaxes in a month is a school where someone might wait an extra minute before locking the door.
What the new federal guidance says
The guidance, released September 25, calls swatting a "crisis" that costs taxpayers millions of dollars in personnel, equipment and lost classroom time. It is voluntary, but it is the clearest playbook schools have had.
How schools should prepare for a fake call
Key recommendations from the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice.
- 01Train the people who answerFront office staff and call-takers learn the common signs of a swatting call so false threats are spotted sooner.
- 02Build the police partnership nowClear lines of communication between school leaders, security staff and local law enforcement before a call ever comes.
- 03Practice the decisionsExercises so leaders rehearse emergency choices instead of making them for the first time under pressure.
- 04Use the threat assessment teamA multidisciplinary team to assess anonymous threats and follow up.
- 05Name one point personOne person who notifies law enforcement, evaluates the threat and sends every message to families.
Source: U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, swatting guidance for schools (September 25, 2026)
Number 5 matters more than it looks. In the first 20 minutes of a lockdown, rumors on group chats move faster than any official update. A school that already knows who speaks, and how, keeps parents calm and off the roads.
What we still don't know
Swatting numbers depend on who is counting and what they count. Other researchers have published higher totals using broader definitions. And we do not yet know who made last week's calls, or whether they came from one person or many. What every count agrees on is that it has not gone away.
What parents should do
When the alert comes, every instinct tells you to get in the car. Here is what school safety officials ask families to do instead.
When your child's school goes into lockdown
Guidance most districts give families during an emergency.
- Keep your phone number and email current in the school's alert system
- Watch the district's official channels for updates
- Wait for the district to tell you where to go if students need to be picked up
- Talk with your child afterward about how they felt
- Rush to the school unless you are told to
- Call the school office during the emergency
- Give your child instructions that conflict with staff or police
- Share rumors or unconfirmed posts
Source: Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland) family emergency guidance; standard district lockdown guidance
Parents racing to a school block the roads that police, ambulances and buses need. Calls to the front office tie up the people trying to manage the emergency. The best thing you can do is be reachable and be ready.
And talk to your teenager. Some hoax threats come from students or former students who think it is a joke. It is a crime. In New York this month, an 18-year-old former student was charged with 2 felonies, making a terroristic threat and falsely reporting an incident, and was held on bail. A text, a post or a phone call can follow a young person for the rest of their life.
If you are a parent, do 2 things tonight. Log in to your school's alert system and make sure your phone number and email are right. Then ask your teen: "Did you know a fake threat against a school can be a felony?" Many don't. If you work in a school, ask your principal one question: "If a swatting call came in today, who is our one point person for families?" If nobody can answer in 5 seconds, that is your project for the month.
See the safety picture for your district. Our School Safety Dashboard shows the safety incidents your district officially reported, how they have changed over time, and how your district compares with the state average.
- Open the dashboard and search for your school or district.
- Go to Safety Incidents. You'll see every incident type the district reported, from threats to weapons.
- Click any incident type to see this year's count, the change from last year, and the trend against the state average.
For Alex. And for all of them.
Max Schachter
If someone needs help
If a child is anxious after a lockdown: the National Association of School Psychologists guide can help you talk it through.
If a young person is struggling: call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Report a threat anonymously: Sandy Hook Promise Say Something, 1-844-572-9669. In Florida, FortifyFL.
Immediate danger: call 911.
Data: Educator's School Safety Network, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, and local police and sheriff's offices. Learn more at schoolsafetydashboard.org.