A hoax active shooter threat can lead to hefty charges and possibly even jail time.
Mike Swafford with the Morgan County Sheriff's Office said in the state of Alabama, the hoax would be a terroristic threat charge. That's a Class C felony.
Swafford said if the person accountable is caught, the person will likely face the same charge in each jurisdiction that was impacted.Â
Schools in Huntsville, Morgan County, Lauderdale County and Scottsboro received calls about active shooters Tuesday morning. School resource officers, police officers and sheriff's deputies successfully determined the threats were not credible.
Morgan County Board of Education
Swafford said an Ohio area code targeted a threat to West Morgan High School and some of the other impacted schools in North Alabama. However, he said, that may not lead investigators to the suspect.
"It's a starting point. That's about it," said Swafford. "You know when something like that happens, we're dealing with technology. There's apps to a spoof number, and there's always a digital trail."
He said the pieces will now have to be put together to determine where the suspect may have been calling from.
The investigation goes beyond local agencies, because areas in multiple states were involved.
Mae Jemison High School students return to their buildings after an investigation into an unfounded threat on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2023.
"It remains to be seen how large this is and how many incidents occurred, and we're hearing it being in different states, so really, it'll not focus so much on Morgan County. We'll hand it over to our federal partner," said Swafford.
If schools in other states received threats from that same Ohio number, Swafford said the suspect could rack up even more charges across state lines.
