Police Suspect Multiple Active-Shooter Hoax Calls to Michigan Schools are ‘Coordinated Effort’

Police agencies across Michigan have been responding to active-shooter calls at multiple schools and then determining those calls to be hoaxes.

Saginaw Township police responded to a call this morning (2/7) just after 10 am. The caller had claimed there was an active shooter at Nouvel Catholic Central High School in Saginaw Township.

Hoax Calls Target Saginaw School, Others in Michigan

the caller was reported to have specific information, stating that two students had been shot and provided authorities with a room number where the shootings had occurred.

According to WJRT-TV, Michigan State Police are investigating four other calls reporting active shooter incidents at schools in Detroit, Jackson, Ann Arbor, and Okemos.

Such hoax calls are sometimes referred to as 'Swatting,' a practice that often draws a large police presence at one location, oftentimes to distract police, sometimes pulling resources from areas where actual crimes are being committed.

In the case of Nouvel Catholic Central High School, police immediately responded by ramming a police car through the front door of the building. There's a picture of the aftermath from today's hoax on WNEM TV-5's website.

Police Respond As if There is An Actual Emergency

Although al of today's active-shooter calls appear to have been hoaxes, police agencies say they treat each call like they are real in an effort to keep students safe.

Police Suspect Hoax Calls Are Related

Saginaw Township police say they believe the fake 911 calls have all been a coordinated effort through the state.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says that pranks are taken very seriously.

"Whether these are real threats made by those intent on doing harm or pranks made by kids trying to get a day off, they are real crimes with real consequences," Nessel said."