BRYAN, Texas — Bryan High School has become the latest school to fall victim to hoax phone calls of active shooters, which have also become known as "swatting" incidents.
The Bryan Police department responded to an active shooter threat on the campus of Bryan High School shortly after 1:30 pm on Thurs, Sept. 22. The call came in on the non-emergency phone line and prompted multiple officers to respond to the call.
It was quickly determined by school resource officers that there was no threat on campus and that the call was a hoax.
Bryan ISD later issued a statement about the matter, saying:
"Bryan ISD wants to address a post that is circulating around social media about a threat to Davila Middle School and separate threat to Bryan High School. At Bryan High, Police determined it was a swatting call. Police have investigated and declared both are hoaxes. They have declared the threats are not credible. Our students are safe. These types of screenshot posts can spread across the country, and anytime screenshots like this make the rounds on social media, out of an abundance of caution and as part of our campus safety protocol, we have additional law enforcement on our campus.”
Students like Cardiss Taylor of Bryan High School explained the fear false emergencies instill in many students all over the Lone Start state.
"You never wanna feel like it's gonna happen to you but when it does, it's nothing to play with got to take it serious" said Taylor. "I felt like my life was going to be in danger and I was scared but the school administration did a good job of handling it."
However, one student shared how he has no fear of the chaos that's breaking around him, because of the Lord that covers him. In addition, Davila Middle School received the same threat, but school resource officers determined both were no threat and not credible.
Schools around the Lone Star State have been subject to similar incidents of unsubstantiated threats that have prompted lockdowns and even temporary cancellations since the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. In fact, making threats against schools—real or fake—can carry a felony charge.
Students told KAGS that they were just thankful the situation was just a hoax.