21 Vermont schools targeted with hoax calls warning of violence
February 8, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti Update: This story was updated at 6 p.m.
Vermont State Police and other agencies are investigating a series of calls made Wednesday morning falsely warning of shootings at multiple K-12 schools around Vermont, prompting schools to go into lockdown and police to respond to multiple locations.
A total of 21 schools were targeted by the calls between 8:40 and 10:50 a.m., according to state police. The calls were made to dispatch centers, police departments and town offices and all of the threats were determined to be unfounded, police said.
By 10:15 a.m., Vermont State Police issued a bulletin alerting the public to the threats while noting the false nature of the calls saying: “Multiple law enforcement agencies across Vermont are receiving calls reporting shootings at local schools. At this time, none of these threats is believed to be credible, and the incidents appear to be hoaxes.”
A check with the central office at the Harwood Unified Union School District found that Harwood was not among the districts targeted. None of the district’s seven campuses had received any of the threats, according to Superintendent Mike Leichliter.
Just before 11 a.m., Gov. Phil Scott’s office issued a statement from the governor saying: “These calls were a hoax—an act of terrorism designed to create chaos and stoke fear that can be exploited. These events are unnerving for everyone – students, teachers, parents and Vermonters. We can use this energy to come together because unity is the most powerful way to ensure terrorists do not achieve their goals.”
At a noon press briefing, the governor commended the law enforcement and school officials who responded to the situations. “Today’s calls were a hoax but were acted on quickly and professionally to ensure the safety of our students and teachers,” Scott said. “I commend the response of local and state first responders — many of whom are volunteers — as well as school administrators, staff and educators across the state. It is critical we take any threat seriously, and I appreciate that every one of them did so.”
Initial investigation has found that all the calls were placed via a VOIP service, and none originated from a spoofed 802 area code as some initial reporting indicated, policd said. VOIP refers to Voice over Internet Protocol, technology to make voice calls using a broadband internet connection instead of a phone line. The calls also appear to have been made by a person and are not believed at this time to have been automated, state police said.
Schools targeted by the calls were:
Alburgh Community Education Center – Alburgh, VT
Brattleboro High School – Brattleboro, VT
Christ the King School – Rutland, VT
Colchester High School – Colchester, VT
East Burke School – East Burke, VT
Enosburgh High School – Enosburgh, VT
Essex High School – Essex, VT
Fair Haven High School – Fair Haven, VT
Grace Christian School – Bennington, VT
Middlebury Union High School – Middlebury, VT
Milton High School – Milton, VT
Missisquoi Valley Union High School – Swanton, VT
Montpelier High School – Montpelier, VT
Newport City Elementary School – Newport, VT
North Country Union High School – Newport, VT
North Country Union Junior High School – Derby, VT
Otter Valley Union High School – Brandon, VT
Randolph Union High School – Randolph, VT
Rice Memorial High School – South Burlington, VT
St. Albans City Elementary School – St Albans, VT
United Christian Academy – Newport, VT
At Harwood, the superintendent sent out the following message to families in the school district:
Subject: School Safety
I am pleased to report that our schools are all in session this morning and our students are busy learning in classrooms in spite of the fact that we were made aware of what appears to be a statewide hoax regarding threats to schools.
Secretary of Education Dan French just shared with school superintendents that multiple law enforcement agencies across the state received calls this morning reporting threats to some local schools. He shared that the Vermont Intelligence Center is not aware of any credible threats to schools related to these phone calls which were designed to provoke anxiety and fear in our schools and communities. HUUSD schools did not receive any threats this morning.
The Harwood Unified Union School District has protocols in place to keep our schools safe places to learn. When we initially heard of police at other Vermont schools, we immediately notified building administrators to be on alert for unusual activity and shared this information with teachers/staff.
We encourage all of our students to be responsible reporters and share any concerns, rumors, or unusual activities to a trusted adult in the school. We ask parents to talk about the importance of responsible reporting with your child as we know that everyone in our community plays an important role in keeping our schools safe.
Thank you for your ongoing support, cooperation, and concern as we work together to safeguard the safety of our students, faculty, and staff.
~ Dr. Michael Leichliter, Superintendent of Schools
State police said they are working with local and federal law-enforcement partners to investigate the calls, which share similarities with other incidents that have occurred nationwide in recent weeks and months.
“I want to thank all the first responders across Vermont who reacted to these threats with urgency and care, in accordance with their training,” Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison said at the briefing. “State and local police, sheriffs, fire departments, emergency medical services, dispatchers, and others responded to schools, coordinated with educators, worked with students, ensured the situation was safe, and confirmed that these calls were the result of a hoax perpetrated by someone bent on nothing more than sowing chaos and fear. I’m especially grateful to our volunteer first responders, whose selflessness contributed to the quick determination that Vermont’s schools remained safe and secure.”
Secretary of Education Dan French attended the briefing and echoed the thanks to school staffs and police. French also commented on the impact of the disruptions caused by the response to the threats today. “These incidents can have a significant and often traumatic impact on students, staff and families,” French said. “Schools will be working hard in the coming days to support their communities as we navigate the aftermath of this incident. I ask all Vermonters to join me in expressing our support for local schools in your community.”
At 2:30 p.m. Vermont’s U.S. Rep. Becca Balint issued a statement as well. The Brattleboro Democrat is a former school teacher and a parent of two students as well.
“Today, Vermont families were sent into panic and fear as false active shooter threats were made to high schools across the state. We now know, thanks to state law enforcement, that these threats were a hoax. As the parent of two Vermont students, I am disgusted by threats of violence to our schools,” the congresswoman said. “Like so many other parents today, I’m angry and I’m frustrated. As a former teacher, I am all too familiar with the training that students go through to be prepared if the unthinkable happens. But as we know, in 2023 there have been more mass shootings than days in the year. And the ‘unthinkable’ happens every day in this country.”
Balint said society should not accept gun violence or the threat of gun violence as normal. “We cannot allow our students to live in fear in their schools.”
Balint said as she supported gun safety laws several years ago in Vermont, she supports national “common sense gun safety measures.”