Fake shooting report at UMD comes amidst wave of college campus hoaxes

Fake shooting report at UMD amid wave of college campus hoaxes

A wave of fake shooting reports on college campuses hit close to home. According to officials with the University of Maryland Police Department, someone called 911 on Tuesday shortly after 4 a.m. and claimed that a shooting had occurred on campus. It was a hoax.

WASHINGTON - A wave of fake shooting reports on college campuses hit close to home.

What we know:

According to officials with the University of Maryland Police Department, someone called 911 on Tuesday shortly after 4 a.m. and claimed that a shooting had occurred on campus. It was a hoax.

"We happened to have one of our own officers patrolling McKeldin Mall at this time, and they were able to relay that they hadn’t seen anything, nor had they heard anything that would be suspicious," explained Lt. Rosanne Hoaas.

The department issued a campus advisory alerting students to the incident later Tuesday.

"We understand that incidents such as this can cause a lot of fear in our community, and we don’t take that lightly," Hoaas said.

Dig deeper:

Similar incidents have taken place on college campuses across the country in recent weeks. That includes at Villanova University in late August.

"We were in the law school studying and then cops came in and told us to get out of the building," one Villanova student said at the time.

Other schools that have been targeted include the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the University of South Carolina, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Kentucky.

What they're saying:

FBI officials confirmed to Fox 5 that they're aware of the recent incidents, releasing a statement, reading:

"The FBI is seeing an increase in swatting events across the country, and we take potential hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk. Knowingly providing false information to emergency service agencies about a possible threat to life drains law enforcement resources, costs thousands of dollars, and, most importantly, puts innocent people at risk. We work closely with our law enforcement partners to determine their credibility, share information, and take appropriate investigative action. As always, we encourage members of the public to remain vigilant and immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement."