FHS Swatting Incident One of Dozens

According to a letter sent out to parents and community members by Superintendent Lucas Giguere and Principal Joshua Hanna in the wake of the swatting incident involving Franklin High School, a caller reported a hostage situation to the police at 9.02 am on Tuesday. That put the building into lockdown. However, search by police, with the assistance of the faculty, allowed the lockdown to be lifted.

But in the meantime, at about 9:14, an even more specific hoax call reached Medway police claiming that a white male with a hand gun had entered that town’s high school, injuring multiple people. Again, police were able to search and clear Medway High and other schools.

Swatting – the coined term for hoax calls designed to produce a major police response (e.g. one that would involve a SWAT team) have grown more common in recent years and are directed against individuals, businesses, and schools. Swatting of schools is now a federal crime.

Published reports in multiple sources ranging from MassLive and MetroWest News to WCVB indicate that some two dozen schools in the state were targeted that day, too (not to mention numerous others nationwide.

Bay State schools included: Austin Preparatory School in Reading, Drury High School in North Adams, Bellingham schools, Foxborough High School, Framingham High School, Haverhill High School, Malden Catholic High School, Mansfield High School, Milford High School, Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington, Northampton High School, Pittsfield High School, Stoughton schools, Taunton schools, and Westwood schools.

And, as Giguere and Hanna noted in their letter, “While these types of incidents have also occurred in other neighboring communities, we continue to follow our emergency response protocols to ensure the safety of our students and staff.