School threats that turned out to be hoaxes put South Florida campuses on lockdown

All Broward public high schools were put on “secure status” Tuesday morning, with several Miami-Dade public schools put on lockdown, while police investigated threats that were later determined to be unfounded.

Other school districts across Florida also reported receiving fake calls Tuesday about active shooters at some of their schools.

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to a call about an active shooter at Palmetto Ridge High School, which was later determined to be unfounded, said at least 16 schools across the state received “hoax or swatting calls matching” their incident.

The series of hoaxes led to a heavy police presence at schools across South Florida early Tuesday, including at Miami Central High, 1781 NW 95th St., West Broward High, 500 NW 209th Ave. in Pembroke Pines, Pompano Beach High School, 600 NE 13th Ave. in Pompano Beach, and Boca Raton High School, 1501 NW 15th Ct.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools spokeswoman Jaquelyn Calzadilla said several schools received an active shooter threat, “but it’s unfounded” and lockdowns — when students have to stay in their classrooms with lights off — were lifted.

J.C. Bermudez Doral Senior High School, Ronald W. Reagan Doral Senior High School and Miami Central High received the calls, Calzadilla said, but schools in the surrounding areas were also placed on lockdown as a precaution.

A full list of schools affected by the hoax was not made available.

In Broward, four schools were the target of the hoax early Tuesday: West Broward High in Pembroke Pines, Pompano Beach High in Pompano Beach, Dillard High in Fort Lauderdale, and Cooper City High, according to the school district.

Out of an “abundance of caution,” the Broward school district chose to put all of its high schools on “secure status” Tuesday morning while police investigated the campus threats, Broward County Public Schools said in a message to families. “Secure status” generally means students outside must get inside a classroom and the outside doors are locked.

“At this time, the schools have been cleared. The threats are believed to be unfounded and schools have returned to normal operations,” the Broward school district said in its message to parents and families.

Shortly before noon, Pembroke Pines police announced that they were responding to Flanagan High School after receiving a suspicious call “that may be related to swatting calls affecting schools throughout the county.” After searching the campus, officers gave the all-clear and said it appeared to be a result of swatting.

“Swatting” generally refers to a call that sends officers to a location where there is no problem or crime.

Other schools across Florida, including in Palm Beach, Collier, Orange, Sarasota and Pinellas counties received similar hoax threats.

At Boca Raton High in Palm Beach County, police responded to reports of an armed person on campus. In Orange County, police responded to reports of an active shooter at an Orlando high school. A similar call was made to a high school in Collier County. All of the threats were unfounded, police said.

“A series of schools throughout Pinellas County and potentially the state are experiencing fake calls alleging of active shooters within the schools,” Largo police wrote on Facebook Tuesday afternoon. “Law enforcement is taking these calls seriously and checking every call.”

Around 10:30 a.m. at Miami Jackson Senior High School, a security guard drove around the parking lot, but all was quiet. The security guard said he heard on his radio about a lockdown at another school in Doral, but that “everything was good here.”

“We have a ZERO-TOLERANCE policy for this type of activity,” the Miami-Dade school district said on Twitter. “A prank threat against a school is deemed a federal crime that can lead to arrest & a felony record. Parents, speak to your children about the life-long consequences.”

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The hoaxes came on the same day of closing arguments in the trial that will determine whether Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz gets the death penalty or life in prison for murdering 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in 2018. The jury is expected to deliberate on Wednesday.