Resources for Swatting and Hoax Threats

Dear school safety partner,  

In light of recent hoax threats, we are sharing information to empower school and law enforcement teams to make decisions if they receive a threat. 

‍ ‍Swatting calls and hoax threats have become a daily occurrence across the US, often targeting school campuses and faith communities. Swatting is the reporting of hoax threats to emergency services or schools of active shooter scenarios, bomb threats, or other acts of violence targeting specific locations. These swatting incidents can occur in clusters across the nation and can be AI-generated. In past situations, AI-generated bomb threats targeted school districts beginning with the letter A. Swatting hoaxes induce trauma and cause disruptions and confusion at the affected sites. Also, swatting diverts law enforcement resources from legitimate public safety functions.

Swatting hoaxes received by schools should initially be treated as credible. Schools should work with their law enforcement partners to determine the immediate safety response necessary to keep everyone safe. Using a multidisciplinary team approach, including the use of a school-based threat assessment team, can provide various perspectives, knowledge, and approaches when working to accurately understand the level of threat posed and the needed response.

Awareness of and responses to false threats have the potential to produce anxiety, stress, and trauma responses in staff and students. Consider debriefing with students in a structured, supportive setting to reaffirm their sense of physical and psychological safety. These discussions give opportunities to answer students’ questions, clear up misinformation, discuss how school leaders work to keep them safe, learn about what makes students feel protected and empower students to think about ways they can be involved in making safety decisions. 

The following linked resources include guidance for schools affected by swatting or anonymous threats to help schools evaluate and respond to the posed threat.

Anonymized Threat Response Guidance: A Toolkit for K-12 Schools: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has put together a resource, to help schools and their law enforcement and community partners create tailored approaches to addressing anonymous threats of violence, including those received on social media.

Anonymized Threat Response Guidance: A Reference Guide for K-12 Schools: A CISA resource to accompany theschoolsafety@wisdoj.gov toolkit.

Talking to Children about Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers. These resources from National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) guides caregivers (parents and school staff) as they reaffirm a sense of safety and wellbeing for youth. 

Swatting Parent Letter Template. This resource is a template intended for use as you communicate with parents. Please feel free to edit the template to fit your school’s needs.

Swatting Emergency Management Procedures. This resource includes mitigation strategies and reporting procedures provided by the New Jersey State Police Cyber Crimes Unit, the Intelligence and Analysis Threat Unit at the Regional Operations Intelligence Center, the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, and the FBI. 

We encourage you to report these threats to SUSO, so our staff can continue to monitor these threats and effectively support impacted schools and districts. In addition, OSS is here to support your response and recovery needs if you are impacted by a threat or other crisis event. Contact us at schoolsafety@wisdoj.gov or 1-800-MY-SUSO-1 (1-800-697-8761).