Bullard High active shooter call one of several in California. Did it have foreign origin?

Jim Guy, Julianna Morano

Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama said a false report of an active shooter at Bullard High School on Wednesday was one of multiple phone calls to cities around California, and it was possible that it may have an origin outside the United States.

In addition to the call that reached Fresno, others were made to officials in cities that included Santa Barbara, Stockton, Chula Vista and Santa Rosa, Balderrama said.

The chief made his remarks at a news conference called at police headquarters, which was attended by police, local and state prosecutors and Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson.

The phone call came into to the State Center Community College District and was forwarded to police, the chief said. Within four minutes after Fresno police dispatch aired the call, at 11:56 a.m., the first police supervisor was on the Bullard campus.

Within another four minutes, officers determined there was no active shooter.

“Forty police units all descended on the school, fearing the worst,” Balderrama said. “I am very proud of my police department today.”

Police continued to search every foot of the campus after the first all-clear signal. He called the response “swift, and formidable.”

The hoax caller reported that there were two shooters with AR-15 rifles on the campus actively shooting students.

During the news conference:

  • Balderrama and Fresno District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp called for tough penalties against whomever made the calls. Smittcamp said it “is a sad day when something like this happens...we now have thousands of victims” referencing the fear faced by students, staff and family members. She added that it was unlikely that whoever made the calls would face jail time if prosecuted under California laws.

  • Assistant U.S. Attorney in Fresno Kirk Sherriff said anyone prosecuted under federal laws would likely face more serious penalties, including 5 or more years in prison.

  • The chief pleaded with community members not to share unconfirmed shooting reports on social media. He noted that as police sped to the Bullard campus, so, too, did a distraught parent, who nearly collided with a police vehicle at 70 mph. “Parents, please monitor your children’s social media,” he added. “You could be held responsible.”

  • Nelson said one aftereffect of Wednesday’s event might lead to a reconsideration to a plan banning students from using cell phones on campus. “It’s obvious that will be part of the conversation,” he said. At a Fresno Unified School board meeting later, Nelson said “playing on people’s traumatic fears is not a joke.” He also cautioned students, “Don’t be stupid...The level of technology that exists in our world today is going to find you. Every fake threat that we’ve had thus far has been traced to somebody whose house we visited.”

  • Anyone with information about the person placing the hoax call is asked to contact the FBI at Tips.fbi.gov, officials in Sacramento at 916-808-8383, or locally at CrimeStoppers in Fresno at 559-498-7867.

Wednesday wasn’t the first time a hoax call has frightened the Bullard community.

In January 2020, a false report of an active shooter at Bullard High sent dozens of sheriff’s deputies, Fresno police and Highway Patrol officers racing to the campus, sparking massive concern on the part of the school community.

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