LOWELL — Acting Superintendent Barry Golner reports that the Lowell Police Department and law enforcement partners responded to an alleged act of swatting that briefly interrupted classes at Lowell High School.
On Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 11:49 a.m., Lowell Police received a call claiming that there was an active shooter on the High School campus.
Several School Resource Officers working inside Lowell High School responded immediately, as did numerous other members of the Lowell Police Department, the U.S. National Park Police, and UMass Lowell Police. The school was immediately placed into lockdown in accordance with established policies and procedures.
Officers searched the school’s three buildings and grounds to ensure no unauthorized individuals were on campus. Police quickly determined the call was one of numerous swatting incidents that have occurred statewide since Monday. Classes returned to normal by 12:30 p.m.
“We had an overwhelming amount of officers on scene within seconds, in addition to School Resource Officers already in the building as well,” said Acting Superintendent Golner. “We were able to quickly determine that the call was a hoax, but we still adhered to our policies and protocols to ensure the safety of students and staff. We have no higher priority than the safety of students and staff in Lowell Public Schools.”
The incident is known to be one of more than a dozen swatting incidents that have occurred around the state and region since Monday.
Swatting, according to Oxford Language is “the action or practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.” The phrase entered the dictionary in 2015 and has been recognized as a criminal phenomenon by the FBI since at least 2008.
The incident remains under investigation by Lowell Police. Lowell Police have been in communication with state and federal law enforcement, which is investigating a series of incidents targeting communities around the Commonwealth this week.
Lowell Police also will create an after-action report that will evaluate the Department’s response and suggest areas for future improvement.