More than a dozen Wisconsin schools targeted by swatting calls, but no real shootings

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- On Thursday, Oct. 20, thousands of Wisconsin students at more than a dozen schools went into lockdown when they were targeted by hoax calls that claimed an active shooter was in the schools.

There were no real shootings.

Now local police departments throughout the state are working with federal and state authorities to track down whoever is responsible.

The calls were made to schools as far north as Ashland to as far south as Pleasant Prairie. Elementary, middle and high schools were all targeted, sending students into lockdown and law enforcement into full swat response.

Parents and students were afraid, and police departments and city officials are furious.

Joseph Nosalik of the Kenosha Police Department said, "It's a very sick joke, and something that cannot be tolerated."

The first call is believed to have gone to Bradford High School in Kenosha. A 911 caller said there was an active shooter inside. Police launched a full-scale response. Students and staff sheltered in place and readied their run, hide, fight training.

Nosalik said, "What the students and staff at Bradford HS did was absolutely appropriate and correct. And the police department response we launched there was right on par with what we've all been trained to do."

Kenosha PD said some state and national intel early on pointed to a hoax, but Nosalik said, "We still will never, ever dismiss anything as a hoax until we are there with our own eyes and boots on the ground."

Shortly after the call to Bradford HS, more calls started popping up throughout the state.

In Green Bay, a caller falsely said 15 people were shot at East High School. Lt. Keith Gering with the Green Bay Police Department said, "We still responded like we would, like it was a real situation."

Schools in Stevens Point, Portage, Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Oshkosh were affected.

Parents in Port Washington rushed to the high school when it got a swatting call.

And Milwaukee's Rufus King HS went into lockdown just as the mayor held a cabinet meeting downtown. A Rufus King parent was in the room.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said, "To see the fear, in his eyes, I will never forget it. I will never forget it."

Johnson said it's scary enough when real shootings happen too often. Then he said, "It's even more sad that folks, knowing that families have lost loved ones, have lost kids to shootings in schools, that they would decide to pull a prank like this."

Rufus King student Milan Sanchez said she's felt that fear before. "I have family that has died from shootings, and it's not something you should be playing around with."

Sanchez said when the school went into a code red, she texted her mom and told her, "I'm getting videos of five squad cars outside, the dogs came inside, the cops came with big guns."

Mayor Johnson wants someone held accountable and says MPD will investigate thoroughly.

Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said, "We have some leads. We're working on it and looking into it. We've been very successful in the past and I know we're going to be successful in the future."

The FBI is also working with state and local partners to investigate, and all the impacted local police departments are working together.

Whoever is responsible for the swatting calls faces felony charges that carry a penalty of a $10,000 fine, 3.5 years in prison, or both.