Group Takes ‘Credit’ for Active Shooter Hoaxes at Universities

The news of yet another wave of hoax active-shooter calls has mostly been drowned out in the headlines by the recent Annunciation School shooting, but it hasn’t stopped. In the past week alone, campuses in Georgia and Florida have been thrown into chaos by false reports of gunmen in their libraries. Students at the University of Georgia, Clark Atlanta University, and the University of West Georgia were forced into lockdowns. The University of South Florida’s Tampa campus was evacuated after claims of a barricaded shooter inside its library. And who knows how many other schools have received similar calls that never made the evening news?

When I first wrote about this trend, it was Arkansas, South Carolina, Iowa State, Villanova, and Tennessee-Chattanooga that were hit in quick succession. In the days that followed, West Virginia University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Central Georgia Technical College were also added to the growing list. The pattern was clear even then: multiple schools, symbolic campus buildings, and the use of background noise to make the calls more convincing. It wasn’t just random trolls; it looked like a campaign.

Now we know that’s exactly what it is. There’s a coordinated group behind these incidents, running their operation online. I won’t mention them by name, because they don’t deserve the attention they so obviously crave. They’ve been selling swatting services, livestreaming their ‘pranks,’ and reveling in media coverage. In other words, this is exactly the kind of organized harassment campaign I suspected when I first wrote about these hoaxes. The pattern was too obvious to be a coincidence. It had the same fingerprints as countless 4chan-style stunts. Cheap thrills, easy money, and the hope of notoriety.

These are not harmless pranks. When dozens of armed officers rush onto a campus in body armor with rifles drawn, every single person in their path is in danger. A student evacuating too quickly, an officer mistaking a phone for a weapon, or even someone just being in the wrong place at the wrong time—all of them could end up seriously injured or worse. Beyond that, every false report drains critical police resources that should be focused on real emergencies.

The people behind these calls don’t care. They never do. They’ve already said this spree will continue for another two months, though that shouldn’t be taken at face value. It will continue as long as the money flows in and as long as law enforcement hasn’t caught up with them. Sooner or later, they will be dragged out of mom’s basement, and the online bravado will disappear. Until then, campuses across the country will remain on edge, forced to respond to every call as if it could be real. Because one day, it might be.

(Sources)