Police believe ‘swatting’ phone calls put Hudson Schools into lockdown

HUDSON, Wis. (FOX 9) - Police in Hudson, Wisconsin, believe the threats of a potential active shooter Wednesday were acts of an alleged prank known as "swatting."

The Hudson Police Department said officers received information from the Department of Homeland Security around 10:30 a.m. about a possible active shooter threat in the area. The threat stated a person was going to "shoot up" a McDonald’s and then a school in the city. 

Police said they were unable to determine which school the threat was made against, so they contacted the Hudson School District and advised them to go into lockdown.

Additional officers were sent to McDonald's and the person's residence who allegedly made the tip to Homeland Security to talk to them about the threat. 

Once taken into custody, a search was performed, and police could not locate any weapons or ammunition to carry out the threat, according to law enforcement. 

Following an interview, they also determined the person in custody was not actually the person making the threats. Instead, police believe the subject was being "swatted" – an act in the online gaming community of sending police to someone’s address under the guise of them making a threat.

The person was released from custody. The investigation is ongoing. 

There is no legitimate threat to the community at this time, police say.