The good news in related to 12 bomb-like packages sent to current and former elected officials, along with CNN, is that one person is in federal custody as of the time of this writing. Thank you to our law enforcement professionals and other first responders across the nation for their hard work. This incident raises […]
Blog Archives
Online group “Evacuation Squad” with ties to Russia and Iran claims responsibility for worldwide wave of school bomb threats
An online group named “Evacuation Squad” is claiming responsibility for a wave of worldwide school bomb threats, according to the digital media website Mashable and news outlets in the United Kingdom and Australia. Mashable says that Evacuation Squad is made up of six international members and listed a Russian email address on its social media […]
Swatting, school bomb and shooting threats: Are FBI federal charges coming soon?
Schools across the nation experienced an uptick in school bomb and shooting threats in recent weeks. Many of these threats are believed to have been made by local individuals such as students or former students. But there are also increasing indicators that a number of these threats are “swatting” incidents — hoax threats intended to trigger […]
Study finds rapid escalation of violent school threats
[Originally published: 2/9/15; Updated: March, 2016] A nationwide epidemic of violent school threats is breeding fear, anxiety and frustration for educators, children and parents. While the vast majority of these threats are anonymous and turn out to be hoaxes, they have to be investigated and taken seriously. Hundreds of schools are losing classroom teaching time, […]
School shooting ‘swatting’ hoaxes trigger massive police responses, parent anxiety
False reports of school shootings, bomb threats and other threats made to schools are triggering massive police responses and heightened parental anxiety across the nation. Hoax calls known as “swatting” involve a caller makes a false report to police to draw an overwhelming response including by police SWAT team, thus the term “swatting.” Recent incidents of such […]
Schools face new wave of violent threats sent by social media and other electronic means, study says
More than one-third of violent threats to schools since the beginning of this school year were delivered by social media, email, text messaging, and other electronic forms, according to a new study by our national school safety consulting firm. “The cost of these threats in taxpayer dollars for police response, lost instruction time, and anxiety […]
Are schools the targets for new hoax shooting and bomb threats?
Our research has identified a disturbing emerging trend of hoax shooting and bomb threats targeting preK-12 schools. These threats are drawing heavy law enforcement responses to schools and creating anxiety among students, educators, and parents. Recent examples include: A 12-year-old middle school student called in a false report of a shooting at a Florida high […]
Three steps to improve school bomb threat management and response
Superintendents, principals, and their first responders can improve management of school bomb threats by taking action to avoid three common problems we find when assessing school emergency guidelines and actual incidences of bomb threats at schools: No written procedure or one developed without input from first responders. Preparing for bomb threats requires more than simply having a […]
School bomb threats: Are principals putting students at-risk?
School administrators appear to be evacuating and closing schools more often in response to bomb threats, but such actions are not always consistent with best practices for bomb threat response. Moving students away from the school and sending them home often meets the emotional security needs of some educators and parents. But doing so could […]