BCA Fusion Center investigating 9 hoax school shooting calls in past 2 days

Morgan Reddekopp KSTP

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Fusion Center (MNFC) is investigating nine hoax school shooting calls made to Minnesota 911 call centers over the past two days, according to a news release from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

As of posting, the calls were made to 911 call centers in the following cities:

Duluth
Ely
Eveleth
Brainerd
Bemidji
Austin
Alexandria
Crookston
Albert Lea

Investigators found the same person made all the calls using Voice Over IP.

MNFC sent an alert to law enforcement agencies in the state to make them aware of the situation.

Last year, 27 hoax school shooting calls were made, with 17 happening in September. None of those calls were found to be legitimate, but law enforcement agencies treated each incident seriously.

The BCA implemented a statewide method to report school threats in 2021. More information can be found here.