SALT LAKE CITY — The numerous active school shooter calls placed across Utah on Wednesday, and later proven to be hoaxes, all came from the same IP address, according to the Department of Public Safety.
In all, 13 schools in the state have been confirmed to have received calls. In addition to the calls coming from the same address, they were also placed from outside of the U.S.
DPS says that one individual made all the calls and used the same storyline for each.
The number came from an IP address that bounced around multiple countries, DPS explained, most of which were in western Europe.
Since the IP address was masked, there's no immediate way to tell whether the call was actually from western Europe or from somewhere else, however, investigators are continuing to look into the origin.
"Just the terror that the kids had to go through. I mean my daughter said the cops came in and had her put her hands up just to check them and that’s terrifying," explained Erin Schuda, the parent of a student at Spanish Fork High School.
While all the calls were determined to be hoaxes, law enforcement still went through shooting protocols to ensure safety of students and staff.
"These calls are taken very seriously and are immediately looked into by law enforcement agencies," said the Utah Department of Public Safety. "We ask the public to please stay calm as our local law enforcement partners have not verified the validity of these accusations and we are currently looking into the origin of these calls."
Salt Lake City police responded to West High School despite students being off for spring break.
"We will do everything we can to identify the person or persons responsible for this unfounded report. These are not pranks. They put our community in danger," wrote Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown.
According to SLCPD, the FBI and other law enforcement organizations will be involved in the investigation into the calls.
Students at Spanish Fork High School were evacuated despite the hoax as a measure of precaution.
"Police responded quickly and lock down protocol was immediately put into place. Police have swept the building and have deemed it safe," the Nebo School District wrote.
"I was angry," said Schuda. "So many thoughts of ‘why are our kids being targeted? Why are they being protected with security guards and guns?’ This shouldn’t be how it is."
Despite there being no threat, Ogden High School students have been released to go home for the day.
"We appreciate all who were involved in ensuring our children and teachers are safe!" the school wrote.
During a briefing Wednesday afternoon, Ogden City officials said they take every call and incident seriously until they are determined not to be a danger. They said they would respond the same exact way tomorrow should the situation repeat.
"How sad I am that our country has got to a point where we think this is okay," said chief administration officer Mark Johnson. "It's not."
While a false call was made to Box Elder High School, the Brigham City Police Department checked and cleared all local schools for threats.
According to the Roy City Police Department, all the calls were made by telephone.
"There's been no actual violence at any of the schools that we've been made aware of," said the Roy City police.
The calls come days after three children and three staff members were shot and killed inside a Nashville school.
