New Bedford High Latest School Caught Up in ‘Swatting’ Incident

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — New Bedford has been the latest community hit in the recent spate of “swatting” incidents across the SouthCoast.

"Swatting" is when false threats are called in regarding a location in order to draw a large law enforcement presence to the scene.

According to New Bedford Police, the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office received a call at about 12:15 p.m. today from a male claimed to be armed outside of New Bedford High School.

“These threatening calls have been received all throughout the region in the last several days,” New Bedford Police spokesperson Lt. Scott Carola said. “Patrol officers quickly arrived on the scene and were able to confirm this call as yet another hoax.”

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Also on Wednesday, Fairhaven Police received a call that led to a brief “stay put” order at the Wood Elementary School, the day after a similar incident happened at Fairhaven High School with an incident that was deemed to be a prank or a hoax.

There was another incident Tuesday in Fall River, where a threat against Bishop Connolly High School called into Fall River Police led to a “shelter in place” order for all Fall River schools, until that call was also deemed “false.”

On Monday, North Attleboro High School was among several in Massachusetts threatened in multiple "swatting" incidents that day.