Bloomington, IL – On Thursday, Bloomington Police Department received a call notifying them of a possible gun violence threat at an undisclosed area school. Responding to the call, officers conducted an immediate investigation and identified the incident as a case of “swatting.”
Swatting is the act of making a fake report or hoax call to emergency services with the intent of triggering a large-scale response, often resulting in a SWAT team’s deployment. In this case, the caller transmitted a threat of violence, death or bodily harm directed against individuals at a school, school function or event.
During the investigation, the police officers contacted the individual who allegedly made the threat, and after speaking with the subject provided by the “swatter,” it was determined that this was not a credible threat to any of the area schools.
According to state statute, swatting is a Class 4 felony, which can result in reimbursement of up to $10,000 to the public agency responding. Bloomington Police Department is urging anyone with information on this or any other similar incidents to come forward and report it to the Crime & Intelligence Analysis Unit (CIAU) at (309)-434-2963 or email CIAU@cityblm.org.
