A rash of “swatting” calls continued to impact schools in our region this week. Lawmakers at the state and federal level are seeking solutions. Meantime, another local district is investigating a separate threat that impacted students in the Capital Region.
On Tuesday, with a list of lockdowns and delays growing, Governor Kathy Hochul announced more than 50 school districts across New York received “swatting” threats. The false reports came after hundreds of similar incidents were reported in multiple states last week.
Speaking with reporters, Hochul, a Democrat, said she directed New York State Police to investigate the threats and work with local officials to identify the perpetrators.
“It is paralyzing for communities because they have to treat every single threat as if its real. We’re investigating, we’re continuing to work with the FBI, but I want parents to know that we are focused on this,” said Hocuhl.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced he is pushing for $10 million in the federal budget to support the FBI’s efforts in investigating swatting incidents.
At the same time the false threats were reported across the state Tuesday, the Ballston Spa Central School District in Saratoga County received an unspecified, unsubstantiated threat on social media, separate from the swatting calls.
Ballston Spa superintendent Dr. Gianleo Duca said the county sheriff’s office was made aware of the threat on social media that morning.
“So, the timing of it, when the sheriffs received it, was probably the worst-case scenario, as far as timing goes. It was right in the middle of arrival,” said Duca.
As middle and high school students arrived, Duca said the decision was made to have them shelter-in-place in their first period class. Elementary students were initially given a two-hour delay. The idea was to give authorities time to investigate and sweep the schools with K-9 units.
“The problem was, earlier in the morning, a lot of the schools up north received bomb threats, so a lot of the K-9 units were already up there. So, there was a delay in sweeping not only the common areas, but also the classrooms and so we decided to close schools for K-5 because of that, and eventually, right around 11:45, the shelter-in-place was lifted,” said Duca.
Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo said his department takes every threat seriously.
“We’re seeing a pattern here. It’s unacceptable. And it just puts our resources at a high level trying to investigate these,” said Zurlo.
Zurlo said his office has not yet made any arrests in the Ballston Spa case. The recent swatting calls on top of that have not been helpful. Ballston Spa schools were threatened by a swatting incident a year ago.
“It’s putting law enforcement at risk and it’s traumatizing the kids, especially in schools, when they see this type of presence coming into the schools to make sure it’s not a threat,” said Zurlo.
The county sheriff’s office was assisted by State Police in its investigation Tuesday.
Ballston Spa Mayor Frank Rossi Jr. said the small village police department only has two or three members on duty at any given time. He said the village likes to assist state and county law enforcement whenever possible, but the threats are a drain on the municipality.
“They help us out, we like to help them out when necessary or when we’re able to. So, it does have an effect, profoundly, on what resources we have available at any given time,” said Rossi.
Rossi supports legislation co-sponsored by Republican State Senator Jim Tedisco that would make swatting a felony. Here’s Tedisco:
“It sends a message, this will not any longer be a slap on the wrist. If we go after you – and we are – and we catch you and we find out you are engaged in this swatting, we’re going to penalize you severely. This becomes an E-felony, a Class E felony, up to four years in a state prison. And now, because it will become a serious crime, not a misdemeanor, the FBI and their investigative abilities at a heightened level, can maybe do a better job of tracking these individuals down,” said Tedisco.
Superintendent Duca said he hadn’t spoke to the senator about the legislation, but:
“If there’s anything that can be done to prevent these types of things in the future, I’m all for that. I’m in 100 percent support for that,” said Duca.
