Hoax puts schools into lockdown

A hoax caller claimed there was an active shooter inside Sundance High School on Monday morning, prompting a lockdown and a call to action for Crook County Sheriff’s Office.

But as deputies responded, the Sheriff’s Office was already aware that the threat was unlikely to be real.

“As my office notified me of a threatening call to the Sundance High school, I had just read messages to me from multiple sheriffs across the state that they had received similar calls and had already classified them as swatting,” says Sheriff Jeff Hodge.

Swatting is defined as a criminal harassment tactic in which an...