Swatting Call Leads to Lockdown at Austin School

An elementary school in Austin was placed on short-term lockdown this morning after law enforcement responded to what turned out to be a “swatting” call.

Mower County dispatch took a call at approximately 9:53 am that an active shooter was at Banfield elementary school in Austin, which immediately went into short-term lockdown. The call ended with what the dispatcher believed were gunshots in the background and officers from the Austin Police Department and the Mower County Sheriff’s office responded to the scene. Those initial responding officers did not find that a shooting had occurred at the school and authorities stated that the call was made maliciously in order to generate such a response. Austin police have also been in communication with the Minnesota BCA about the incident as well.