'That's Dangerous': Swatting Calls Negatively Impacting First Responders

The University of Oklahoma confirms Friday's "shots fired" call was a false report and was the result of "swatting."

President Joseph Harroz says the "swatting" call came from outside of the US, which is something that’s been happening more often across the country.

Tulsa Police Captain Mike Eckert says these swatting calls are dangerous to the people and first responders and may start to affect the urgency of the response. He says if this keeps up, the expectation won't be that the threat is real, it'll be that the threat is fake.

Nearly 200 first responders swarmed the University of Oklahoma campus Friday night after someone called in an active shooter. The University sent out alerts telling people to shelter in place.

"You take 200 first responders out of the mix, your area of coverage is greatly depleted and can cause real problems,” said Eckert.

Captain Eckert runs the Tulsa Police Special Operations Team and says fake calls drain resources. Active shooter calls are all hands on deck, from every agency around.

"We are all going to these events because there is a need for that type of response. Mass casualty events call for massive response,” said Eckert.

Captain Eckert knows first hand what a real active shooter call is like after what happened at Saint Francis last summer.

Over 300 first responders raced to the scene to stop the threat.

"We have 300 vehicles going lights and sirens, trying to get to the same place at the same time. That's dangerous for the public, that's dangerous for the first responders,” said Eckert.

Eckert says right now, they always respond like it’s the real deal, but, that could be affected if these fake calls get more common.

"When we get these false alarm calls, it does not create any kind of plus or benefit for us, in any way, shape or form. It does nothing but desensitize us to an actual one when it does come in,” said Eckert. "If we get 30 phone calls in a month that are all fake, and the 31st call is the real one, I don't think anyone expects us to have the same response after 30 false alarms to the actual event."

The FBI is still investigating the incident in Norman.