‘It’s just scary’: Phone threats lead to lockdowns at multiple metro Atlanta schools

Several metro Atlanta schools went into lockdown Wednesday morning after receiving threatening phone calls, including Marist School in Brookhaven.

“I saw the texts and my heart dropped. I didn’t know what to do, what to expect,” parent Sandra Draper said.

Draper’s 13-year-old daughter attends Marist. She and other parents rushed to the school after being notified of the threat.

Brookhaven police, along with officers from DeKalb County, Chamblee and Dunwoody, responded to the campus around 10 a.m.

“We responded out here earlier this morning to a report of at least one individual or maybe more, in the parking lot, armed with a rifle, and the threat of explosive devices that had been placed in and around the school,” Brookhaven Police Chief Brandon Gurley said.

Gurley told Channel 2’s Tom Regan that as officers searched the school buildings and campus, investigators learned several other metro Atlanta schools, including two in Atlanta, had received the same threat from the same phone number.

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“With that information, we began to realize we may be victim to a swatting type of prank phone call. We are working with our federal partners to investigate the source of the call, which we believe was out of state,” Gurley said.

No weapons or explosives were found at Marist, and the lockdown was lifted by early afternoon.

Parents said they were relieved by the response.

“Everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing, so I feel confident,” parent Nabil Issa said.

Gurley said investigators are also looking into the possibility that the threatening phone call was generated using artificial intelligence.

In Georgia, swatting, or making a false report of an emergency or imminent threat to trigger a law enforcement response, is a serious crime that can result in felony charges.