‘It’s not a joke’: Cleveland FBI warns of swatting dangers after multiple incidents Friday

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - After several swatting incidents in Northern Ohio Friday, the Cleveland FBI is calling out those who make these serious threats.

They said in a statement that they take these incidents very seriously, because they put innocent people at risk.

Swatting, the act of making a hoax call to emergency services in an effort to dispatch responders to a certain address, seems to have become more and more prevalent.

Cleveland FBI mentioned this is considered a federal crime and can land the suspect state or local charges, or even jail time.

“While we have no information to indicate a specific and credible threat, we will continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention,” Cleveland FBI said.

They also asked the public to remain vigilant, and report suspicious activity and/or individuals immediately.

One of these threats took place Friday in Cleveland at Saint Ignatius High School.

According to school officials, around 12:15 p.m. a claim of an armed suspect outside of Saint Ignatius was called into Cleveland Police.

Officers were dispatched immediately, and while no suspect was ever identified on campus, school officials chose to put the school under lockdown for safety purposes.

CPD officers searched campus buildings, and according to a statement from the school, the campus was determined safe.

The claim was determined to be false by CPD, and the lockdown was lifted.

Saint Ignatius noted that this incident occurred alongside similar calls received throughout the state of Ohio.

Another took place in Akron at Garfield Community Learning Center located at 435 N. Firestone Blvd where police said they received a call of a man with a gun around 11:38 a.m.

APD said when officers arrived, they found it was a prank.

They also said they were made aware of several related swatting calls at various locations throughout the state.

These are ongoing investigations, and more information will be added as it becomes available.

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