OTTAWA HILLS, Ohio — For more than a year, school districts across the country have been dealing with swatting calls: hoax calls placed with 911 to create a large response by police and other first responders.
Between Sept. 13, 2022, and Oct. 21, 2022, 182 schools across 28 states in the U.S. received swatting calls, according to an NPR report.
The frantic scene at the Ottawa Hills School District Friday morning -- which police later confirmed a hoax -- is the fifth northwest Ohio school district that has been a victim of the felony since September.
Other schools in northwest Ohio have also been affected by swatting calls in recent months: Scott High School in September and Start High School and Liberty-Benton High School in November.
Ohio has seen calls in recent months in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland and Akron.
In November, 11 Investigates collected six 911 calls that involved local districts and districts in Northeast Ohio and the Columbus area. In those calls, the caller appeared to be the same person -- a man with a heavy foreign accent who followed the same script: a gunman entered a school with an AR-15, shot multiple people, was dressed in all black and, in many cases, was identified as a Hispanic male.
And that caller seemed to strike in dozens of states. Law enforcement believes he was overseas routing his calls through an Ethiopian phone company.
The call to Ottawa Hills Friday morning was different in many ways. The voice was different, the caller remained on the line for eight minutes and he told the dispatcher that he was walking into the school. In previous calls, the caller said the shooting had already taken place and then quickly got off the phone.
As the dispatcher questioned the caller, he first said he was in the gym. Then, was in a bathroom near the gym. Then, he was walking to a classroom upstairs.
When asked his name, the caller said his name was James Thompson and that he was upset at a teacher named Mark for giving him a bad grade. He told the dispatcher that he graduated last year. WTOL 11 has confirmed with the district that there was not a recent graduate named James Thompson or a teacher at the high school by the name of Mark.
At one point, the caller asked the dispatcher three separate times if she would be sending help to the scene.
Toward the end of the call, the dispatcher asked "James Thompson" if he is alone. But then gunfire is heard, in addition to screaming, and the call ends.
There were more than 85 units from different departments that responded to the call, including 33 from the Toledo Police Department. Other departments WTOL 11 was able to confirm responded included Ottawa Hills police, the Lucas County Sheriff's Office, Toledo Fire and Rescue, Metroparks police, University of Toledo police, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and officers from Sylvania and Sylvania Township.
Ottawa Hills Police Chief John Wenzlick said he was pleased with all those who responded: "If it was my child, I hope everybody under the sun comes to make sure that they do what they have to do to take care of the situation."
Earlier this month, Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill that makes swatting a fourth-degree felony, punishable by up to 18 months in prison. In addition, a person can be charged a hefty fine to recoup expenses incurred by the responding departments.