'Swatting' Call Evacuates PHS, Drury / Pittsfield.com

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield High School and Drury High School in North Adams were evacuated late Tuesday morning because of false threats of violence.

The incident was identified as "swatting," in which a caller attempts to generate an emergency law enforcement response on a location under false pretenses.

Earlier that morning, state law enforcement partners notified the department that several communities in eastern Massachusetts had received similar calls reporting critical incidents at schools. These incidents were from either one person or multiple people using the same name.

Pittsfield Police received an anonymous report at about 10:40 a.m. of an active shooting at the high school on East Street. The call was immediately recognized as similar to the false calls received in other communities across the state.

For caution, police units responded to the school and worked with school and district staff, and administration to clear the building, and ensure the legitimacy of all occupants.

"Once the Pittsfield High School leadership received this information, the school was placed in lockdown, and immediate assistance from the Pittsfield Police Department arrived," Superintendent Joseph Curtis sent in a communication to district families following the incident.

"Based on the PPD’s knowledge of the swatting calls occurring throughout the state today, as notified by the Massachusetts State Fusion Center, an adjusted response was facilitated with members of the Pittsfield Police Department and PHS and district administration, clearing all areas of the building. Classes are resuming and this has been determined NOT to be a credible threat by the Pittsfield Police Department."

The units were cleared from the school at 11:50 a.m.

North Adams Superintendent Barbara Malkas said students and staff at Drury were evacuated for about a half hour will police searched the building; classes then resumed without incident. The school includes Grades 7 and 8.

"In response to the report today, we implemented our safety procedures effectively and efficiently, ensuring the safety and security of all students and staff. We would like to thank our emergency response colleagues for their immediate and thorough response to the report," Malkas wrote in a message to the school community.

Adams Police heightened their presence at Hoosac Valley Elementary and High schools after hearing about the swatting calls.

There also were reports circulating about threats at Taconic High School and Reid Middle School on Tuesday but Curtis clarified that there were no threats at these schools.

"As always, we are grateful for the immediate assistance of the Pittsfield Police Department," Curtis wrote to families.

"Members of the PHS school staff and school adjustment counselors will be seeking students who need support, especially after yesterday's tragic school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee."

On Monday morning, six people were killed in a shooting at a Nashville elementary school. Three of the victims were children.

The Pittsfield Public Schools had this week planned to conduct Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate, or ALICE, drills in all its schools. Eric Lamoureaux, the district's emergency and safety coordinator, had alerted parents and guardians about the drills in the superintendent's update posted on the district website on Friday.

Malkas had posted on the North Adams Public School's website following the Nashville shooting that the safety of students was top priority.

"We regularly review our security measures with our community emergency response agencies to ensure that we are doing everything we can to protect our students and staff," she wrote. "We also urge everyone to speak up if they see or hear anything that could represent a potential threat to school safety. This includes students expressing thoughts or concepts of doing harm to themselves or others."