Four Denver Public School campuses, including East High School, received likely false calls threatening violence Friday, following a widespread Colorado swatting incident Wednesday and a shooting at East High School last week.
Just before noon Friday, the Denver Public School's Department of Climate and Safety, Denver Police Department and four Denver Public School campuses, Northfield, East, South and DC-21, all received the exact same message with threats of violence, according to a Denver Public Schools tweet.
Law enforcement responded as though the threats were real to ensure the safety of students and staff, according to the tweet. They are currently investigating the reports but believe them to be false.
There will be additional law enforcement at each of the campuses for the remainder of the day, according to the tweet.
Denver police did not say whether these incidents may be related to the threats called to schools across Colorado Wednesday and did not release any further information about the threats.
The likely false threats come after schools across Colorado received hoax threat calls, referred to as swatting, on Wednesday.
Schools in Alamosa, Aspen, Boulder, Brighton, Cañon City, Clear Creek County, Durango, Englewood, Estes Park, Fort Morgan, Gilpin County, Littleton, Glenwood Springs and Carbondale were also affected.
It appeared as if the caller — or callers — were running down a school list in alphabetical order.
Colorado isn't the only state that faced swatting calls this week. The fake reports also shut down schools in Idaho and compelled authorities to place an Illinois high school under a "shelter in place" order.
The fake calls also came on the heels of a school shooting last week near Denver's East High School, one of the schools that received a threat Friday, prompting students Tuesday to urge Denver City Council members to restore school resource officers to Denver Public Schools, which ended its contract with the Denver Police Department in June 2020.
