By La’Niya Jones
On Tuesday, Feb. 7, multiple Michigan school districts were on high alert after receiving fake school shooting reports.
That morning, Okemos High School in Meridian Township received an unknown call saying there was an active shooter in the building. The local police quickly went to the school and saw no signs of an active shooter.
They later sent out a message to the public saying that everyone in the building was safe and that the building was secure. Michigan State Police stated that many schools reported getting fake calls of “active shooting” in the school building, some even including a caller with a heavy accent stating the name of the school.
The caller said they were a teacher and that a student had shot another student and even gave out fake room numbers of where the accident occurred. Ann Arbor police were also receiving calls about a fake shooting taking place at Huron High School.
Saginaw Township schools were placed in “secure mode,” meaning that no one was able to come in or out of the school until the end of the day. This was a precaution due to a situation happening at Nouvel High School connected to the fake shooting reports.
The fake reports that occurred on Tuesday are called “swatting,” defined as the action of making a prank call to emergency services to bring a large group of officials to one location.
On the night of Feb. 7, Attorney General Dana Nessel released a statement about the swatting accidents. General Nessel wants to inform parents, kids, and everyone about the seriousness of threats and what charges someone could face. Threats of violence raise fear and can result in serious injuries or deaths. The potential charges and sentences someone can face in Michigan are listed as follows,
- Communicating a threat of terrorism leads to a 20-year felony.
- Calling in a bomb threat leads to a four year felony.
- Malicious use of a telecommunications device leads to a six month misdemeanor.
- Threatening violence against a school employee or student leads to a one year misdemeanor.
- People found guilty can face fines up to $50,000 with prison or jail time on top of that. Swatting can also lead to other charges listed below.
- A false report of a crime leads to a 93 day misdemeanor.
- A false report resulting in physical injury leads to a five year felony.
- A false report resulting in serious bodily impairment leads to a ten year felony.
- A false report resulting in a death leads to a 15 year felony.
Fake threat reports are terrible for everyone involved; investigations are still taking place on what exactly happened and who is responsible.
Michigan was not the only state to be hit with fake shooting reports throughout the week; California and Vermont schools were also subject to the fake callings. These fake calls have made people pay more attention to school safety and communication protocols. Many schools are still recovering from the Tuesday incident that left many families, students, and staff shaken.
