Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters on Friday that while there are no known perpetrators for the wave of erroneous reports of active shooters in schools that struck areas of New York on Thursday, she thinks the threats were probably made by someone outside.
36 occurrences in total, mainly in the Hudson Valley and Capital Region but also including schools in Central New York and Western New York, according to Hochul, were recorded on Thursday. State police visited 226 schools.
Gov. Hochul met today with top education and security officials after widespread “swatting incidents” at New York schools this week pic.twitter.com/vCy74TRfkt
— Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) March 31, 2023
“I want parents to know that we take every single incident seriously. We treat it as it’s real. But the reality is this is meant to disrupt and cause chaos in our school system, and indeed, society,” Hochul said.
The governor claimed that “computers frequently produce swatting” instances of this nature. The FBI defines swatting as “calling 911 and faking an emergency that draws a response from law enforcement — usually a SWAT team.”
“Probably in this case, they’re foreign actors,” Hochul said. “They’re computer-generated calls originating in foreign lands that are trying to cause disruption.”
The governor claimed that the majority of these calls went to school offices.
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“In some cases, there’s a recording of sounds like shootings in the background, which is horrific, that is it sounds very legitimate, that is an active shooting unfolding as the calls are going on, and so this is why it’s causing so much trauma for teachers and students and families,” Hochul said.
This follows a shooting on Monday at a private Presbyterian school in Nashville, Tennessee, which left three 9-year-old children and staff members dead.
“So this has been a traumatic week for families across New York,” Hochul said.
Patricia Gault is a seasoned journalist with years of experience in the industry. She has a passion for uncovering the truth and bringing important stories to light. Patricia has a sharp eye for detail and a talent for making complex issues accessible to a broad audience. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a commitment to accuracy and impartiality, earning a reputation as a reliable and trusted source of news.