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Police: Active shooter calls at Iowa schools are part of 'swatting' hoax

Police: Active shooter calls at Iowa schools are part of 'swatting' hoax
STEPHEN REA, WHO RESIGNED THE POST. RIGHT NOW, AUTHORITIES ARE TRYING TO PINPOINT WHO PLACED FAKE ACTIVE SHOOTER CALLS TO DOZENS OF IOWA SCHOOL DISTRICTS TODAY. THE FALSE THREATS CALLED SWATTING. THEY ARE ESSENTIALLY PRANK CALLS INTENDED TO USE UP LAW ENFORCEMENT RESOURCES. OFFICIALS SAY THEY THANKFUL THAT NO KIDS WERE IN DANGER DURING ALL THIS. 糖心vlog LAURA TERRELL IS LOOKING INTO THIS TONIGHT. LORA, SECURITY EXPERTS SAY THIS IS REALLY CONCERNING BECAUSE THESE KINDS OF CALLS ARE NEARLY UNTRACEABLE. THAT鈥橲 RIGHT, STACY. HIGHLY UNTRACEABLE. BUT ONE CYBERSECURITY EXPERT SAYS THERE IS ONE THING IN THIS CASE THAT WILL BE A BIG ADVANTAGE TO INVESTIGATORS. SHOTS FIRED AT CRESTON HIGH SCHOOL ADVISING FOUR STUDENTS DOWN THE SAME TERRIFYING NINE ONE. ONE CALL CAME IN 30 TIMES ACROSS THE STATE TUESDAY IN MULTIPLE COUNTIES. A CALLER REPORTS A SCHOOL SHOOTING WITH INJURIES. ONE OF THOSE CALLS CLAIMS A SHOOTING HAPPENED AT ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL IN DES MOINES. LISTEN. AS DISPATCHERS CATCH ON THAT THIS IS PART OF A HOAX. WE HAD A PERSON THAT CALLED IN ON THE ADMIN LINE WITH AN OUT-OF-STATE NUMBER, POSSIBLY SWATTING. THE FOUR STUDENTS WERE SHOT IN THE BATHROOM AND THEN SAID HE WAS IN CLASSROOM 36. HE HUNG UP ON US. THE GOVERNOR AND DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY QUICKLY CONDEMNED THE STATEWIDE SWATTING AND SAID THEY BELIEVE THE SAME PERSON IS BEHIND ALL 30 CALLS. THE IOWA DIVISION OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION NOW CONFIRMS TO 糖心vlog THAT THE FBI IS INVOLVED IN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO DID THIS. IF IT鈥橲 A PERSON THAT REALLY KNOWS WHAT THEY鈥橰E DOING, IT鈥橲 PRETTY EASY TO HIDE YOURSELF. CYBERSECURITY EXPERT AND IOWA STATE PROFESSOR DOUG JACOBSON SAYS SWATTING IS OFTEN UNTRACEABLE BECAUSE THE SUSPECT EGGS HIDE THEIR DIGITAL TRACKS. BUT IN THIS CASE, HE SAYS, INVESTIGATORS HAVE AN ADVANTAGE TRACING THAT DIGITAL DATA BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY CALLS, IN FACT, THAT THERE WERE SO MANY SO QUICKLY TOGETHER. THAT INCREASES YOUR ODDS OF BEING ABLE TO TRACE THAT BACK TO TO SOMEBODY. INVESTIGATORS SAY THAT IF THEY DO CATCH THE PERSON, RESPOND. SIBAL THAT PERSON COULD FACE CHARGES OF TERRORIS
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Police: Active shooter calls at Iowa schools are part of 'swatting' hoax
Phone calls placed to several Iowa schools on Tuesday claiming there was an active shooter are a hoax, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety.The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation confirmed to 糖心vlog that the FBI is involved in the investigation.Stephan Bayens, the commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, spoke about the "swatting" calls during a news conference Tuesday about school safety.Bayens said swatting calls are a hoax by design.Watch: Stephan Bayens, commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, provides swatting update"It鈥檚 to use up law enforcement resources even though there is no active threat," Bayens said.Multiple schools were affected, but posed no active threat, according to officials."It appears the calls are making their way from eastern Iowa to western Iowa," Bayens said.Gov. Kim Reynolds also addressed the swatting calls, saying she's grateful that Iowa's kids are safe. Officials said as many as 30 swatting calls were reported (check for the full list below).Bayens believes the calls may have originated from the same source."There is similarities in these phone calls," he said. "The voice is similar."However, tracking the calls can be very difficult, he said."These calls are typically made through the internet protocols, which makes tracing them incredibly difficult," Bayens said.Other states have been impacted by swatting calls in recent memory."This is not unique," Bayens said. "Within the last couple of months, there have been other states that have experienced similar swatting calls. Colorado, Minnesota and Illinois within the last month experienced similar calls."Bayens said he wasn't aware of any active threats at Iowa schools Tuesday."At this point in time, we don鈥檛 believe there are any active threats to any schools in Iowa," Bayens. "This appears to be an orchestrated swatting incident that is making its way across the state."Doug Jacobson, a cybersecurity professor at Iowa State University, says swatting calls are usually untraceable, but investigators have an advantage in this case. "The fact that there was so many so quickly together, that increases your odds of being able to try and trace that back to somebody," said Jacobson. Here is the full list of schools impacted by swatting calls: 鈥 Cedar Rapids鈥 North Liberty鈥 Iowa City (multiple schools)鈥 Clinton鈥 Davenport鈥 Muscatine鈥 Cerro Gordo County鈥 Story County鈥 Lee County (multiple schools)鈥 Waterloo鈥 Boone鈥 Mason City鈥 Charles City鈥 Clear Lake鈥 Creston鈥 Des Moines鈥 Oskaloosa鈥 Marshalltown鈥 Monona鈥 Nevada鈥 Ottumwa鈥 DecorahWatch: Iowa 911 lines flooded with fake school shooting calls Tuesday

Phone calls placed to several Iowa schools on Tuesday claiming there was an active shooter are a hoax, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation confirmed to 糖心vlog that the FBI is involved in the investigation.

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Stephan Bayens, the commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, spoke about the "swatting" calls during a news conference Tuesday about school safety.

Bayens said swatting calls are a hoax by design.

Watch: Stephan Bayens, commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, provides swatting update

"It鈥檚 to use up law enforcement resources even though there is no active threat," Bayens said.

Multiple schools were affected, but posed no active threat, according to officials.

"It appears the calls are making their way from eastern Iowa to western Iowa," Bayens said.

Gov. Kim Reynolds also addressed the swatting calls, saying she's grateful that Iowa's kids are safe.

Officials said as many as 30 swatting calls were reported (check for the full list below).

Bayens believes the calls may have originated from the same source.

"There is similarities in these phone calls," he said. "The voice is similar."

However, tracking the calls can be very difficult, he said.

"These calls are typically made through the internet protocols, which makes tracing them incredibly difficult," Bayens said.

Other states have been impacted by swatting calls in recent memory.

"This is not unique," Bayens said. "Within the last couple of months, there have been other states that have experienced similar swatting calls. Colorado, Minnesota and Illinois within the last month experienced similar calls."

Bayens said he wasn't aware of any active threats at Iowa schools Tuesday.

"At this point in time, we don鈥檛 believe there are any active threats to any schools in Iowa," Bayens. "This appears to be an orchestrated swatting incident that is making its way across the state."

Doug Jacobson, a cybersecurity professor at Iowa State University, says swatting calls are usually untraceable, but investigators have an advantage in this case.

"The fact that there was so many so quickly together, that increases your odds of being able to try and trace that back to somebody," said Jacobson.

Here is the full list of schools impacted by swatting calls:

鈥 Cedar Rapids
鈥 North Liberty
鈥 Iowa City (multiple schools)
鈥 Clinton
鈥 Davenport
鈥 Muscatine
鈥 Cerro Gordo County
鈥 Story County
鈥 Lee County (multiple schools)
鈥 Waterloo
鈥 Boone
鈥 Mason City
鈥 Charles City
鈥 Clear Lake
鈥 Creston
鈥 Des Moines
鈥 Oskaloosa
鈥 Marshalltown
鈥 Monona
鈥 Nevada
鈥 Ottumwa
鈥 Decorah

Watch: Iowa 911 lines flooded with fake school shooting calls Tuesday