LOCKPORT, N.Y. — In the past week three local high schools were among several more across the state to be victims of "swatting" incidents.
Swatting is when someone makes a false report about a violent occurrence, such as a mass shooting, prompting a rapid and massive response from law enforcement and often creating panic throughout a community.
Now a powerful lawmaker says its time to fight back.
"This is not a joke!" U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) exclaimed during a visit to Lockport on Wednesday.
Lockport High School was the site of a swatting incident last Thursday when police were falsely alerted of an active shooter inside the school.
However, those who experienced the incident would refute terming it a "false alarm" because there was nothing false, or less than alarming, about the police response and the trauma that some experienced as a result.
"The trauma was real, and it was raw," Lockport School Board President Leslie Tobin said.
"Police were told that the shooter was in a bathroom," Lockport Mayor Michelle Roman added. "There were young men and women in the bathrooms when the lockdown occurred."
According to Roman, the action police then had to take, would be traumatizing to anyone.
"They had guns put to their faces, and they had to be patted down (by police) to make sure they didn't have a weapon. That is traumatizing, and that is something they are going to have to deal with," Roman said.
Schumer was emotional when he related what he had been told about students inside the school, unaware if there really was a gunman afoot or not, reaching out to parents and loved ones which then sent them into a panic.
"To have kids sending messages home to their parents saying things like, 'I may never see you again ... I love you,' ...What kind of world do we live in? We must, must, must, stop this!" Schumer said.
To that end, Schumer is calling for the FBI to fully investigate such incidents, as it's become apparent those responsible may be from outside the state or even the country.
And he's pledging to find $10 million for the FBI to hire additional agents and purchase cyber investigative tools to help track down the perpetrators.
"And there has to be consequences," Lockport Police chief Steven Abbott said.
Beyond the fact that foreign perpetrators, even if found, might be difficult to prosecute, Abbott noted that if the guilty party was local, perhaps a student of a certain age, the consequences may not be severe due to New York State's criminal justice reforms.
"There has to be consequences, and it can't be to sit around in a restorative circle with these people. They need to go to jail," he said.