LAWRENCE, Kan. – Law enforcement agencies in Kansas are investigating a series of false reports of active school shooters across the state, including a few in the Kansas City region.
Around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Lawrence police received a call about an alleged active shooter at Free State High School. The school resource officer at the high school investigated and quickly determined the call was a hoax.
Chris Gray, spokesperson for Johnson County Community College, confirmed with FOX4 the college received a false active shooter report Wednesday, but said it was unrelated to other swatting calls received by other Kansas law enforcement agencies.
Gray said at around 7:30 a.m. a student who believed they saw something that looked like a gun at a campus gym made a report to police. Once campus police arrived on scene, it was determined that there was no gun and no threat to the school. The campus was not evacuated or placed on lockdown due to the false claim.
Other threats across Kansas
In Topeka, police received a call around 8:15 a.m. also claiming an active shooter was on campus at Highland Park High School. Officers cleared the school and surrounding area as a precaution. Police soon determined there was no credible threat to the school.
At approximately 8:30 a.m. Riley County police received a call about an active shooter at Manhattan High School. The school resource officer immediately began investigating and found the threat was not credible.
Around 9:15 a.m. Garden City police received a call claiming there was an active shooter at Garden City High School.
The Garden City Police Department and the Finney County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call and cleared the school and surrounding area. No credible threats to the students, staff or school were discovered.
As a precaution USD 457 schools have been placed on lockdown.
This is a developing story. It will be updated as more information becomes available.
