Another false emergency report involving a weapon prompts a police search at Villanova University
The hoax comes three days after a fake active shooter alert sparked chaos on the Main Line campus, where students and parents were participating in orientation activities.
A second false emergency incident report involving a weapon at Villanova University prompted Radnor Township police to deploy to the Main Line campus Sunday, one day before classes are scheduled to start.
Officers responded to a call of an “unspecified threat that required an immediate police response” at the campus’ Austin Hall dormitory at 10:20 a.m. Sunday, Radnor Township police Superintendent Christopher Flanagan said.
Police had cleared the building and found no evidence of a crime by 11:30 a.m., Flanagan said, after posting to the department’s Facebook page that “officers are working to clear the campus and restore normal operations.” An early version of that post referred to the incident as a “reported active shooter,” CBS News reported.
Flanagan would only say the caller referred to an “unspecified weapon.”
Flanagan said he could not yet comment on where the call originated or how the incident unfolded since an investigation is ongoing.
The initial alert that went out to students about Sunday’s hoax said: “Unspecified Threat. Austin Hall. Believed to be baseless. Police on scene clearing area.”
Villanova University’s president, the Rev. Peter Donahue, reiterated that Sunday’s threat was also “unfounded” in an email sent to students and faculty just before 1:30 p.m. that was reviewed by The Inquirer.
“I understand how alarming it is to receive these alerts, but we take every call seriously and take the utmost precaution to ensure the safety of our community,” Donahue wrote. “We will always be overly cautious and vigilant when it comes to campus safety.”
The hoax comes three days after a fake active shooter alert targeting Scarpa Hall at the Charles Widger School of Law sent the campus into chaos, terrifying parents and students alike who were there for orientation activities. Flanagan said that the FBI, Pennsylvania State Police, and the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office were all investigating Thursday’s incident, known as swatting, which occurred just hours after the University of Tennessee Chattanooga received a false active shooter report.
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and criminal justice professor at Penn State Lehigh Valley, told The Inquirer last week there is a chance the false report in Tennessee could have encouraged a copycat call in Villanova.
Authorities have yet to say if there is a link between both incidents or how they might be connected to Sunday’s hoax alert.
Giacalone said swatting ideas often start on the internet, at times as a joke between a group of people.
“However, from a law enforcement perspective, they have to take these very seriously. They’re coming prepared to have to use deadly force,” Giacalone said.
As Radnor police responded to Thursday’s hoax call, the police scanner broadcast a scene of confusion.
At one point officers reported a person with a gunshot wound and even identified a potential shooter as a 6-foot male, according to police scanner recordings.
In the aftermath of the hoax, it was revealed there were no injuries. Then how could gunshots be heard on the call?
Artificial intelligence and data scraping tools might be the answer. A report published in April by the National Association of Attorneys General found such tools can help perpetrators cover their tracks and create more realistic sounds and voices to make it look like an emergency.
It has not been confirmed that those tools were employed in the Villanova calls. But, swatting incidents nationwide have increased greatly from 400 in 2011, to more than 1,000 in 2019, according to an FBI estimate provided to the Anti-Defamation League.
Villanova University will continue to have an increased police presence indefinitely, Donahue said in his statement to the campus community. The Delaware County D.A.’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FBI declined to comment on any recent university shooting hoaxes.
“Like me, you are probably wondering what is happening and how, just a few days later, we are receiving more alerts about another possible incident. I wish I had more answers for you,” Donahue said. “I know it may not seem like it after the past couple of days, but I assure you that campus is safe, and there is no evidence of a legitimate threat to our community.”
Flanagan said that Radnor police have yet to determine if both of Villanova’s false alarms are connected: “There is a chance, but in the same breath it could be two totally different circumstances.”
Regardless, Flanagan said, the people behind these incidents are “only interested in causing havoc.”
Some community members agree.
“Again? This is getting out of hand,” Jennifer Tomlinson commented on the police department Facebook post. “I hope you find out who it is and lock em in a cell.”