Hartford

Police Believe Incident at Sport and Medical Sciences Academy in Hartford Is a Swatting Incident

Hartford police said they believe the threat of a person with a gun at the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy in Hartford Tuesday afternoon was a swatting incident and that the call came from overseas.

Dispatchers received a call at 12:02 p.m. from the school and the Wheeler Clinic reporting that someone called in and said he was hunkered down in the school with a firearm and intended to hurt himself and others, according to police.

Emergency crews responded to the school and cleared the building.

Investigators believe the caller used a cellphone application with an encrypted number. The Major Crimes Division determined that the call came from overseas.

The students sheltered in place as police searched the school and they were all safe, according to police.

Hartford police said they were working with the Wethersfield K9 unit to conduct another search of the school out of an abundance of caution.

“At this time, it appears there was no threat to the school,“ Lt. Paul Cicero, of Hartford Police, said. “It does appear to be a swatting incident at this time.”

Police said the person who made the call made more calls, made peculiar demands and gave different variations on what is occurring and what he wanted.

“We don’t believe he is in the building or actually in the vicinity at this time,” Cicero said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Students who were inside the building described the scary moments to NBC Connecticut.

“We actually had to evacuate and there was guns, police, and everything," said Almedina Velic, a seventh-grader.

“We just hid under the tables," seventh-grader Ragib Kolarebic said. “After the cops came they just said stay calm and stay in here until they say to come out.”

The lockdown was lifted and students were dismissed late Tuesday afternoon. 

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