Hoax threats made statewide, including GFPS, local schools operating normally

Great Falls Public Schools said that several schools had received messages on Dec. 9 regarding bomb threats that are “linked to a national hoax.”

GFPS said that the Great Falls Police Department and other law enforcement entities believe there’s no threat to local schools at this time and all school activities are operating normally.

GFPS Tom Moore told The Electric that local law enforcement and national agencies have been tracking the threats.

He said he knew of a threat made to one GFPS school and law enforcement was present at that school as a precaution, but officials do not consider it a credible threat and that’s is part of the widespread hoax calls.

Law enforcement have responded today to hoax calls about an active shooter in multiple parts of the state. There has been no evidence of an active shooter and no actual threats found, according to the Montana Attorney General’s office.

The Montana Attorney General’s office said that calls had been made on Dec. 9 to dispatchers in Billings, Colstrip, Forsyth, Manhattan, Miles City, Red Lodge, and Cascade and Madison counties.

“This is likely an orchestrated hoax tactic called swatting,” Division of Criminal Investigation Administrator Bryan Lockerby said in a release. “We are assisting with the coordination of these incoming threats to further the investigation and identify the source of the calls.”

Similar series of hoax calls have also been reported recently in other states including South Dakota and Oklahoma, according to the AG’s office.