‘We're Not Going to Treat it Like a Hoax': A Look at Swatting at San Diego County Schools

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants to allocate an additional $10 million to the FBI’s budget to address swatting.

In New York, he says 35 false incidents were reported last week. It is a growing concern to law enforcement agencies, and it is when someone calls or messages to report a crime that is not actually happening, also called a hoax.

“We have seen this for a number of years. Sometimes it ebbs and flows,” Sergeant Anthony Molina, with the Chula Vista Police Department, said. “There’s always the concern of, what’s the overall mission? Is it to get us off track so something can happen somewhere else?”

CVPD dealt with a swatting incident at a high school within their jurisdiction in 2022. They received a call from a man who claimed that there was someone with a gun on campus.

“So, right off the bat we’re going to start sending people,” Molina said. “We’re really fortunate here at our department. We do kind of leverage technology and things.”

With the help of Live911, a technology that allows police officers to hear 911 calls directly, the department’s drone program, and a school resource officer who happened to be in a parking lot on campus, CVPD realized that the school appeared to be operating as usual.

But, that did not stop them from taking the threat seriously.

“Even with that, even with us believing at the time, this is probably going to be a hoax,” Molina said. “We still have the obligation to take care of our kids, to take care of the school staff, and to put the parents at ease.”

The caller ended up being out-of-state, and possibly out-of-country. According to Molina, the information was shared with the FBI for further investigation.

“Now, keep in mind that day we put that school in lockdown, another school nearby was put on lockdown, just for that mere fact that it could be a danger,” Molina said. “So it’s affecting a lot of people, you know, that day alone we’re talking about hundreds of people.”

While the threat itself may have not been real, the response that day was. Molina said it would not be unusual to have 20-30 officers on the scene, along with a helicopter and other resources that the community might not even realize responds to major incidents.

“It’s definitely representative of why these are so dangerous, why they cost a lot in resources and time, why it causes fear,” Molina said. "The reality is, the people doing these things are pulling lifesaving resources from where they actually could be responding, could be helping other people.” 

Not to mention, it takes a toll on everyone involved.

“We all know, or understand, at this point that everyone reacts differently to traumas, so we don’t know the lasting effects some people have just from believing that they might be in an incident like they’re seeing on the news,” Molina said.

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department also sent a statement about swatting in the region to NBC 7. 

In 2022, five out of twenty-two swatting incidents were related to schools.

These types of calls cause a drain on essential resources. These calls typically require a large number of deputies responding to the call. This in turn creates a slower response time to those who are in actual need of a response from our department. When someone calls 911, we want to be able to get on scene as fast as possible to assist those in need.

Prevention of these types of events is challenging. We take these calls very serious and must respond in a manner appropriate to the call. We continuously educate the public and remind everyone to be cognizant of their surrounding and if they see or hear something that may be related to a threat, please let us know so we can complete a thorough investigation. 

The Sheriff's Department would like to remind the public, if they see something, say something.

Molina added the best way to prevent swatting is for parents to talk with their children about how dangerous it can be. Above all, he wants to share the message that swatting is not tolerated, and those responsible will be held accountable.

"While it could be difficult, we're still going to look for these people," Molina said. "We're still going to try and hold them responsible."