KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Law enforcement agencies responded Thursday morning to the neighborhoods around Park Hill High School to investigate a threat before standing down once the threat was determined to be unfounded.
A Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department spokesperson told KSHB 41 News that officers took a report for a threat at the high school and that "detectives have made headway identifying where the calls are coming from."
The Park Hill School District sent a message Thursday to families in the school district:
Dear Park Hill School District Families,
This morning, around 11:00 a.m., a swatting call from overseas to police dispatch came through as a hotline call to the Kansas City Police Department.
This swatting call then triggered the police scanner to report that an active shooter was present at Park Hill High School. There was no active shooter at Park Hill High School or anywhere near Park Hill High School. We were immediately in contact with our law enforcement partners to work through this information.
Again, there was no emergency happening at Park Hill High School. Swatting is “the action or practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.” This is what happened about an hour ago in Park Hill. The prank call came from overseas.
From here, several media outlets inquired about an active shooter at Park Hill High School as the result of the police scanner activity. We have been working with our media partners to reinforce that this was a swatting call and attempt to cause fear and chaos in our community.
Please know that we continue to work through these situations with our law enforcement partners to ensure the safety of our students, staff, families and community.
Thank you for continuing to help us take care of each other. When things like this happen, your trust, understanding and support is so appreciated. We’ll continue to work through this together.
Kelly Wachel
Chief Communications Officer
Park Hill School District
A Drain on Resources
Unfounded school threats have cost taxpayers $1 billion the past two years, according to a recent report. Whether "swatting" or email threats, unfounded threats impact school learning hours and students' mental health, according to the report compiled by TDR Technology Solutions.
The report notes an average of 785 schools nationally that are impacted per month. The research shows the loss of instructional time cost taxpayers $446 million during the 2023-24 school year.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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