KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Officials say there have been multiple false reports of active shooters at schools in the Kansas City region on Monday.
Sgt. Andy Bell with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said local law enforcement have called troopers to assist at several schools Monday. So far they have not found any active shooters at the schools they’ve responded to.
They don’t know the source of these calls, according to Bell, and it’s too early to tell if this is an attempt at swatting, or a prank call to 911 to summon a large number of police to a specific location.
Although Bell did not have a complete list of schools engaged, he was aware of incidents at North Kansas City High School in the Northland, Smith-Cotton Junior High in Sedalia, and Knob Noster High School in Johnson County, Missouri. According to MSHP, other schools may be impacted.
Several other school districts across the state — including St. Louis, Springfield, Branson and the Ozarks — also received false shooting reports, according to FOX4’s sister stations and law enforcement.
A Kansas Highway Patrol spokesperson said the agency has not received any reports on the other side of the state line in the KC metro.
The news of these fake shooting calls comes just hours after three children, three adults and a female suspect were killed Monday in a shooting at an elementary school in Nashville.
According to Nashville police spokesperson Don Aaron, officers were summoned to the active shooter incident at 10:13 a.m.
According to a Clay County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, the threat at North Kansas City High School occurred around 11:50 a.m. Someone phoned the non-emergency line of the NKC Police Department, falsely reporting that multiple people had been shot. The authorities are still looking into it.
Johnson County dispatchers received a 911 call about an alleged armed person at Knob Noster High just before noon. All Knob Noster police on duty, plus county sheriff’s deputies, responded to the scene. Officials are still investigating but have not found any evidence that shots were fired.
The county dispatch centre got a report of a shooting at the junior high, according to Sedalia Police. The school resource officer and school security officers quickly began searching the building, but no suspects or injured students were discovered.
Sedalia School District’s superintendent said the threats that law enforcement received midday Monday were also false.
“We know many of our families may be understandably concerned about school safety. Please know the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff is our priority,” Superintendent Dr. Todd Fraley said in a letter to parents. “We take all reports of potential threats seriously, and make every effort to ensure students and staff feel safe.”