Garfield County’s dispatch center received a “swatting” call at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning that falsely claimed someone with a shotgun was outside Rifle High School, sending the campus into lockdown.
The Rifle Police Department conducted a thorough search of the area to determine that the scene was safe with support from the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office and Colorado State Patrol.
Anonymous callers have targeted schools around the country and on the Western Slope with unsubstantiated threats in recent years. These “swattings” often come through local 911 dispatch centers and involve fake bomb or shooting threats that elicit a large law enforcement response, disrupt school or business operations, and waste public funds.
Two decades ago ago, swatting wasn’t a common term for Tom Holman, the 911 operations manager for Garfield County’s dispatch center.
“Never heard of it,” Holman told Aspen Public radio Tuesday. “Now it's very commonplace and the people doing it are very savvy.”
In Garfield County, Holman said they receive swatting calls at least once a year — and sometimes every few months.
Swatting calls in February 2023 forced several school districts into lockdowns and “secure” modes, where schools lock all outside doors, but classes continue as usual.
However, many of these anonymous callers are extremely difficult to track down because they use virtual private networks (VPNs) to disguise their location.
“With the VPN, you can make it look like you're calling from a place where you're not,” Holman said.
Holman added the calls not only drain law enforcement resources, but also pose a danger to the public, as swatting incidents can put people at risk of accidental conflicts with police officers.
All swatting calls are reported to the FBI, which is tracking the issue and occasionally making arrests.
