GREAT FALLS — Great Falls was one of several communities across Montana affected by what appears to have been a hoax threat at public schools.
At about 9:40 a.m., Sergeant Katie Cunningham of the Great Falls Police Department - the Great Falls School Resource Officer supervisor - received a report of a possible suicidal person inside Great Falls High School.
The suicidal person reportedly had a firearm, according to a news release from the Great Falls Police Department.
The school was placed in lockdown and law enforcement officers from Great Falls Police Department, Cascade County Sheriff’s Office, Montana Probation & Parole, and US Marshals Service responded.
While staff and students were secured in their classrooms at GFHS, all other Great Falls Public Schools implemented shelter-in-place procedures as a precautionary measure.
Officers conducted a search of GFHS and no threats or weapons were found, and all lockdown and shelter-in-place procedures were lifted at about 10:15 a.m.
Similar situations happened in Billings (link) and in Kalispell (link) this morning.
In Helena, both Capital High School and Helena High School briefly implemented shelter-in-place procedures.
Lieutenant Matt Fleming of the GFPD confirmed that other schools across Montana and the country received similar threats, believed to be “swatting” incidents.
A “swatting” incident involves the practice of making a bogus call to emergency services in an attempt to generate a large response from law enforcement officers to a particular address.
At this point, there is no indication that the person or people who perpetrated the hoax have been identified.
