False Active Threat Incident 

False Active Threat Incident

1500 Lincoln Ave. (Memorial High School) 

SUMMARY 

On November 8th, at 8:16 a.m., Evansville Police Officers were dispatched to Memorial High School for an active threat situation. Dispatch advised that the caller said there was an active shooter inside the school and 10 victims were down on the 2nd floor. Dispatch had only received that one call. 

Multiple law enforcement agencies including EPD, Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police, and EVSC Police responded to Memorial High School. Law Enforcement cleared the school. It was quickly determined that there was no threat inside the school, everyone was safe, and no one had been injured. 

The initial call was very suspicious. The caller had a foreign accent and used a number that was not local to the area. It seems that the caller purposely called in a false run to the school to cause panic, which is sometimes referred to as “Swatting.” 

Luckily, this was a false run, and no one was injured. However, law enforcement responded to the incident as if it were a real active threat situation and arrived within just a couple of minutes. “Swatting” is very dangerous and is illegal. This part of the investigation is still active, and investigators are working to determine who called this run into Dispatch. 

Local Law Enforcement also learned that several other similar false active threat calls were made around the United States this morning. Investigators will also be working with those other agencies to determine if these incidents were in fact made by the same caller and are connected. 

If you have any information regarding this investigation, please contact EPD Adult Investigations Unit at (812) 436-7979.