False Swatting Incident at Claremont McKenna College Triggers Police Response
On Thursday evening, a false report of an active shooter prompted a significant law enforcement mobilization at Claremont McKenna College. This incident occurred shortly after a similar hoax created panic at Loma Linda Children’s Hospital in San Bernardino County.
Details of the Incident
At approximately 4:45 p.m., the Claremont Police Department received a distressing call suggesting that an armed individual was on campus. According to police, the caller claimed to be in a restroom on the Claremont McKenna College campus, allegedly holding someone captive and threatening to use a firearm and explosives.
Emergency Response and Campus Safety Measures
In response to the alarming report, multiple law enforcement agencies swiftly intervened and conducted thorough searches of Claremont McKenna College and neighboring institutions, including Pomona, Scripps, Harvey Mudd, and Pitzer Colleges. Officers determined that there were no signs of an active shooter or any victims on campus. The shelter-in-place directive was ultimately lifted around 7:30 p.m.
One student, identified as Gabe, described the moment of the alert, stating, “I was just doing some homework — I have a paper due — and I just get a text: ‘potential shooter.’ I look out the window, SWAT teams, cops, and it said you got to get off campus, get to safety and lock the doors. We just started going away from campus.”
Prior Similar Incident Raises Concerns
The day before the claremont incident, Loma Linda Children’s Hospital experienced a similar event. A call to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department claimed an individual was inside the hospital armed with a weapon. This situation also led to a significant law enforcement response, which concluded with an all-clear around 8 p.m.
San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus highlighted the impact of such hoaxes, emphasizing, “Law enforcement officers responded from two counties, taking away their ability to handle emergency calls in their own communities. All of this caused by a hoax to falsely portray a catastrophic event.”
Context and Statistics on Swatting
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has noted that swatting incidents “often come in clusters” and are intended to intimidate or harass targets. In January 2024, the FBI and National Counterterrorism Center tracked over 100 threats across more than 1,000 locations in 42 different states within a single month.
Recent cases have shown the severity of these actions; for example, a young man from Lancaster was sentenced to four years in prison for making nearly 400 swatting calls targeting diverse institutions, including schools and places of worship.
Support for Students
Despite the false alarm, the fear experienced by the campus community was palpable. Claremont McKenna College Dean of Students, Jimmy Doan, acknowledged the distressing situation in a message sent at 6:15 p.m., offering assistance in tracking student locations. Classes were suspended during the emergency but are set to resume the following day, as confirmed by a statement from Pomona College.
To support students affected by the incident, counseling services remained available until 9 p.m. through Student Health Services, with 24/7 mental health support provided via TimelyCare’s online platform.
