Muscatine High School “Swatting” Incident (03/21/23)

Muscatine High School students, families, and staff members,

Our high school was ‘swatted’ this morning. That means that a fake threat was called into the Muscatine Police Department from outside of the state of Iowa. The threat also referenced a staff member’s name that does not exist within our high school or district. Muscatine Police responded accordingly, swept the entire building, and once they informed us that there was no credible threat, we could resume the school day. While this is certainly a disruption to the day, we will do our best to resume school as normal at Muscatine High School. Should any students or staff need to speak with a counselor, please know it is okay. Similar ‘swatting’ calls are happening to other school districts across the state of Iowa. Mulberry Elementary School was also temporarily locked down due to its proximity to Muscatine High School.  Please know that we take the safety of all students and staff very seriously and work very closely with the Muscatine Police Department. We appreciate their efforts and timely response. Thank you to the Muscatine, IA Police Department, Muscatine Fire Department, and to Muscatine County Emergency Management/911 for all their efforts.

Thank you,

Clint Christopher
Superintendent

Tony Kies
Chief, Muscatine Police Department

 

 

Here is a press release from the Muscatine Police Department sent just now (11:46am, 03/21/2023).

 

PRESS RELEASE – 03/21/2023
Assist. Chief Steve Snider
This morning 03/21/23. at approximately 0825 hours, the Muscatine Joint Emergency Communication Center, received a 911 call from an unknown individual, who reported there was a shooting which had just occurred at the Muscatine High School. This same type of call was received at several other emergency communication centers across eastern and central Iowa around the same time.
Members from both Muscatine Police and Fire departments and Muscatine County Sheriff’s department responded to the Muscatine High School. It was quickly determined that the 911 call had been a hoax and that there was no armed threat at the school, nor was there any threat to students or staff. The Muscatine High school and some surrounding schools were placed on a temporary lockdown while the incident was being resolved and a thorough check of the campus was being conducted. Additional police presence remained at the high school in an effort to ease safety concerns of students and staff.
The incident remains under investigation and the Muscatine Police Department working with outside agencies in an effort to identify those responsible. Anyone who may have information about this incident is asked to contact Sgt. Jeff DeVrieze at (563) 263 – 9922, ext. 629.

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