School 'swatting' incidents spread across US as officials warn of getting 'complacent': 'Just takes one time'

Fake school shooting threats and hoaxes have spread across the U.S. in recent months, taking a toll on the mental health of teachers and students and draining law enforcement resources.

In the past few months, schools across the United States have been experiencing just this scenario, and the trend doesn’t seem to be letting up. The National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), has tracked at least 60 instances of fake school shooting threats or hoaxes – sometimes referred to as "swatting" – across 30 states and Washington, D.C., since September. "What they see on the news, they’re seeing people their age being shot and that fear just amplifies the words they’re hearing."  "It does get very tiring, and it does get very taxing … you're paying educators, and you're paying educators to do things that in the end may not be credible, but it just takes one time."  Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more. 

"While nationwide statistics on these criminal events are not readily available, in 2013 one FBI official estimated that hundreds were occurring each year including locations other than schools. Open-source reporting indicates a recent surge of ‘swatting’ calls targeting schools in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, and Virginia," NASRO said in a September 26 statement.

As recently as Tuesday, a false report of multiple people being shot forced a Sacramento high school on lockdown for several hours.