It takes a very particular brand of sicko to call in bomb threats and swatting hoaxes to zoos full of families and school groups. But that’s exactly what’s been happening across the U.S., where a string of fake emergency calls has forced evacuations and closures, the AP reports.
From Ohio to Arizona, at least five zoos were hit in a single weekend with reports of bombs or active shooters. Places like the Toledo Zoo, Phoenix Zoo, and Columbus Zoo and Aquarium all cleared out visitors while police swept the grounds. Of course, no explosives and no shooters were found. Just a lot of animals who were none the wiser.
That string of fake bomb threats and swatting calls would’ve been enough, but then even more zoos got threatening calls; the Akron Zoo and Cleveland Metroparks Zoo were also targeted, along with earlier similar hoaxes in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida.
Zoos Across the U.S. Are Being Hit With Bomb Threat Hoaxes
In mid-March, Zoo Miami dealt with similar threats: a series of threatening calls that, thankfully, all turned out to be hoaxes but still instilled fear and terror. Zoo Miami received several threats within a week.
“This is part of life now around the country, around the world,” said Tom Schmidt, the president and CEO of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in central Ohio, in a sadly true statement that perfectly describes our current dystopian moment.
The FBI has investigated thousands of swatting cases since 2023, with the calls targeting everything from schools to celebrities. The callers are often teenagers trying to impress their idiot friends, or a general mix of adults and teens trying to instill fear for fun or to make some nebulous political point.
Just last week, federal prosecutors announced they had brought charges against a juvenile who is part of a cybercriminal syndicate called “Purgatory,” whose cybercriminal rap sheet seemingly begins and ends with swatting, making them more a team or collective of malevolent crank callers than cybercriminals.
In many swatting and hoax bomb threat cases, people have been injured during the response or suffered medical injuries triggered by stress. Dogs responding to the panic of intruders have been shot and killed during the sudden, violent invasion.
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