Multiple School Shooting Threats in Colorado
On Wednesday, February 22, state and federal law enforcement agencies responded to multiple school threats across Colorado, which sent 16 different schools across the state into lockdown. Authorities later determined that these threats were a wave of hoax threats of school violence.
Police described these calls as “swatting” threats, with a caller claiming to be an active shooter on campus while gunfire is heard in the call’s background.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation found that there was currently no indication of a “specific and credible threat.” Several of the school districts were called in alphabetical order, as many of the calls were placed just minutes away from the calls before. Alamosa was the first school to receive a call at 8:24 a.m. A minute later, Aspen received a threat, Aurora five minutes later, then Boulder just three minutes after. The other schools impacted were Brighton, Durango, Englewood, Estes Park, Fort Morgan, Grand Junction, and Littleton. No injuries or deaths were reported at any school.
In a press conference, Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold told reporters that the initial caller let police know that he was holding semi-automatic weapons and was preparing to enter Boulder High School. Boulder Police did not find any proof that there was an active threat on campus. At the time, Chief Herold didn’t have all the full information to speculate. He did believe, however, that the threats were connected as the calls were placed in such a small time frame.
The swatting calls come just two days after reports of shots were fired inside the Millennium Hotel near Colorado University Boulder’s campus on Monday, February 20. A shelter-in-place was in effect both Monday and Wednesday for both ongoing incidents. CU’s students wondered if classes were safe to attend. CU did not cancel any classes, but did send regular updates to students and was active in reporting on the CU Boulder Police Department’s Twitter.
While safety is the top priority, many users on Twitter expressed their frustrations with Boulder’s Police Department for not actively communicating whether a shooter was present on Boulder High’s campus and whether CU students were safe to go to class. It should be a priority that although it didn’t directly affect CU’s campus many off-campus living students are nearby Boulder High and were disappointed to not get as much information. Though this was an issue, many applauded the Police Department for acting swiftly and taking the threat seriously.