DES MOINES, Iowa – On Tuesday, several school districts across Iowa received “swatting calls” that referend an alleged active shooter scenario. According to Department of Public Safety officials, the first swatting call originated in Clinton County at approximately 8:00 a.m., and the last call was received at 10:30 a.m. in Creston. Officials estimate that approximately 30 calls were received by local law enforcement agencies.

A “swatting call” refers to a false claim intended to trigger an immediate and widespread law enforcement deployment or emergency service response to a specific location. Hoax reports such as the ones experienced today commonly consist of claims of serious violent attacks, such as a bomb threat, active shooter, and/or a hostage situation.

Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan K. Bayens said these false reports are a tactic intended to illicit a large-scale law enforcement response. “The design of it is to create confusion and chaos. It’s designed to draw a large law enforcement presence to a school even though there is no active threat. And by all accounts and for all intents and purposes, it appears thus far that is what Iowa experienced today.”

Bayens said today’s swatting calls impacted the following communities:

•    Cedar Rapids
•    North Liberty
•    Iowa City (multiple schools)
•    Clinton
•    Davenport
•    Muscatine
•    Cerro Gordo County
•    Story County
•    Lee County (multiple schools)
•    Waterloo
•    Boone
•    Mason City
•    Charles City
•    Clear Lake
•    Creston
•    Des Moines
•    Oskaloosa
•    Marshalltown
•    Monona
•    Nevada
•    North Liberty
•    Ottumwa
•    Decorah

Immediately after receiving these calls, local law enforcement and school officials reported all relevant information to the Department’s Division of Intelligence and Fusion Center, which then re-disseminated the information to local law enforcement agencies throughout the state. Bayens said this proactive information sharing allows schools and law enforcement to better determine their response protocols should one of their schools receive a similar call. “By reporting these calls to us, we can quickly inform our school and law enforcement partners, which in this case may have impacted the nature of their response and stemmed the flow of more calls to other communities,” Bayens said.

The Department is continuing to work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate and identify the caller. Bayens said the initial information leads investigators to believe the calls are similar in nature and likely originated from a single source.

State school safety officials and Governor Kim Reynolds were able to quickly inform the public about the swatting calls as part of a scheduled press conference and launch of a new school safety app called Safe+Sound Iowa. The app was made available to all public school districts and accredited non-public schools today. Parents, students, and community members can anonymously report any tips to law enforcement through dps.iowa.gov/SafeandSoundIowa, downloading the free Safe+Sound Iowa app, or by calling 800-224-6018.

(Harlan, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Tuesday , said DNR Field Office 4 staff observed a wastewater sewage overflow from a lift station owned and managed by the Harlan Inn and Suites in Shelby County.

The sewage drained into a tributary of the West Nishnabotna River. Water samples have been collected.

Downstream users should keep children away from the area and use caution if pasturing cattle. The situation is still under investigation.

SOUTHWEST IOWA – Schools in 12 counties in southwest Iowa are encouraged to apply to participate in a new farm to school agriculture education program hosted by the Center for Rural Affairs. Five K-12 schools will be chosen to begin and/or reinvigorate agriculture education. The schools must be located in Monona, Crawford, Harrison, Shelby, Pottawattamie, Cass, Mills, Montgomery, Fremont, Carroll, Audubon, or Page counties.

“Our goals are to increase access to agriculture and gardening skills for food production and to promote access to healthy, delicious locally grown foods for students and their families,” said Cait Caughey, Beginning Farmer and Market Associate with the Center.

Selected schools will receive technical assistance and support on food production and agriculture education through December 2023; farm to school curriculum resources; assistance with accessing Iowa local foods procurement programs; and grant writing assistance on school garden or greenhouse grants.

Monetary awards include: $2,000 mini grant for food production, garden, greenhouse, aqua/hydroponics; $200 for garden tools; $150 stipend for one teacher to attend the Iowa Farm to School Conference in June; $150 stipend for one teacher to attend the Southwest Iowa Local Foods Summit in fall 2023; $200 for one farmer speaker who grows fruits, vegetables, herbs, and/or livestock to visit the school and give a presentation.

There is no cost to apply; applications must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 14. Selected schools will be notified by May 15. Applications will be evaluated based on school demographics and plan for food production, student involvement, community involvement, sustainability, teacher engagement, food service director collaboration, and creativity.

Visit cfra.org/sw-Iowa-farm-to-school for the application and for more information, or contact Caughey at 402.380.5192 or caitc@cfra.org.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN) – The commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety says at least 30 school district received swatting calls this morning. Those are calls where someone reports a shooting to get police to respond. DPS commissioner Stephan Bayens says the first call came into Clinton and they were able to determine what happened. “Immediately our Division of Intelligence was monitoring, it was taken in ingesting the information, and we’re pushing it out to several thousand law enforcement officers within the first half hour to 45 minutes,” he says. “And then once the additional calls rolled in, we could even more kind of robustly communicate this was likely a swatting event.”

Bayens says Clinton reacted well when the first call came in. “When the balloon went up, so to speak, there were cops from probably five different counties, the State Patrol, anyone and everyone came running,” Bayens says. “And the school from what I understand it a great job of locking the school down, communicating well with the community.” Clinton eventually canceled classes for the day.

Bayens says the calls came in from east to west across the state, so there was a warning for schools as the situation progressed. “I imagine by the time the call is rolled into central Iowa, I would hazard a guess that almost all of law enforcement in these communities knew what was likely coming. And that way they can take a drastically different response because they know the genesis of it,” he says.

Steven Bayens, Iowa Public Safety Commissioner

Officials with the Creston Community School District said that at approximately 10:30-a.m., the Union County Dispatch Center received a call from an unknown male reporting a shooting at the Creston High School. The caller claimed four students had been shot in a bathroom at the school. When officers arrived, they began an immediate sweep of the building and no evidence of a shooting was found. After clearing the building and consulting with district officials, the lock down was lifted. Officers were then sent to other buildings in the district while the lock down was lifted. The Creston PD is working with the DPS to investigate the incident.

The swatting calls came on a day when Governor Kim Reynolds and Commissioner Bayens had already scheduled a news conference to talk about a new ap developed by the Governor’s School Safety Bureau. Reynolds says she was updating on the situation right away and was glad the calls were not real. “It’s what no Governor, no parent or anybody, Superintendent, teachers kids want to hear. And we’re grateful, and just so thankful that that’s what it was,” Reynolds says. She says it highlights the importance of what the School Safety Bureau is trying to do to keep schools safe.

Commissioner Bayens says it is hard to track these types of calls and they often come from out of the state or country. He says they did follow the same pattern. “Everything in terms of the details are the same, the methodology, the phone number, the voice, the content,” he says. He was asked about the accent of the caller. “The calls are in English, whether it’s an Iowa accent or not, I guess it depends on I mean, there’s folks from everywhere, so I don’t know what an Iowa accent is anymore,” Bayens says “I can say it’s probably not traditionally what we think is Midwestern and in sourcing, and that’s about all I can say — I’m not a linguist expert, but I can I can at least tell you that.”

Bayens says the calls are designed to draw in law enforcement and create confusion. He says they were able to mitigate some of that by immediately analyzing and determining these were swatting calls.

(Radio Iowa)- A new “Safe and Sound Iowa” smart phone app is available to let Iowans anonymously report school-related safety concerns. Special agent Don Schnitker is chief of the Governor’s School Safety Bureau. “This tool helps identify and provide intervention to students in crisis before they hurt themselves or others,” Schnitker says. “Safe+Sound Iowa is designed to prevent violence, unlawful possession of weapons, self harm and other threatening behavior that affects Iowa youth.”

Schnitker says in 80 percent of school shootings, at least one other person noticed concerning activity or behavior that might lead to violence. “That person with advanced knowledge is most likely going to be another student or a teacher That is why having a tool like Safe+Sound Iowa available in every school is critical,” he says. “It gives every student and every teacher a voice in their safety.”

There’s also a “Safe and Smart Iowa” website and a toll-free number for calls. Any report through the website, the phone or the app immediately goes to a law enforcement dispatcher.”The school safety report is immediately shared with local law enforcement and school administrators to further investigate the concern,” Schnitker says. All of Iowa’s public and private schools have been notified that the app and website were launched this (Tuesday) morning and the School Safety Bureau is providing schools with educational materials about the Safe and Sound Iowa program.

(Radio Iowa) -(UPDATED 12:19-p.m.}  Several schools in Iowa are dealing with fake calls today (Tuesday) about possible shootings at district buildings. Classes were canceled at Clinton High School amid reports of possible gunshots having been fired at the school. The administration posted online that students were sheltering in place as police investigated — and in an update said police found no sign of any gunshots.

Muscatine police searched the Muscatine High School after a call and classes resumed when police turned up no threats. The Iowa City Police Department issued a statement saying it is communicating with the Iowa City Community School District regarding calls that are known as “Swatting.” The statement says the calls are not credible and there is no reason for concern at this time.

Officials with the Creston Community School District said that at approximately 10:30-a.m., the Union County Dispatch Center received a call from an unknown male reporting a shooting at the Creston High School. The caller claimed four students had been shot in a bathroom at the school. When officers arrived, they began an immediate sweep of the building and no evidence of a shooting was found. After clearing the building and consulting with district officials, the lock down was lifted. Officers were then sent to other buildings in the district while the lock down was lifted.

After consulting with the Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS), it was determined that the incident was part of a state-wide “Swatting” call that was made to 30 police departments across Iowa. The Creston PD is working with the DPS to investigate the incident.

(Griswold, Iowa) – Members of the Griswold Board of Education met Monday night and, according to Superintendent Dave Henrichs, approved several resignations and new hires. The resignations will be in effect at the end of the current school year.

Henrichs said a good portion of the meeting was covered contracts and handbooks for the 2023-24 School Year, which came with a bit of a dilemma, with regard to insurance.

He said the District utilized a partial self-funding policy that helps offset out-of-pocket insurance premiums and keeps them low. Each year money is placed into an account, which currently has a balance of about $60,000, which allows for an increase in the salary package.

In other business, the Griswold School Board approved continuing three current sharing agreements: An Elementary Guidance Agreement with the Riverside School District; a Transportation agreement with the Atlantic School District, and a School Business Officials (SBO) agreement with Riverside. A sharing agreement with regard to Girl’s Wrestling was tabled for now.

The Griswold School Board set Driver’s Education Fees for the Summer of 2024 at $385. The cost for students from other districts will be $495.

There were two bids for mowing. The current provider, Bob’s Mowing, was awarded the contract. They also received an informational update from Superintendent Henrichs on the four-day school week, but no action was taken. He says they’re still collecting information.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Tuesday), voted to pass a resolution vacating the county road right-of-way for Willow Lane, for the former Willow Heights facilty. Board Chair Steve Baier says as long as the County was operating Willow Heights, it needed the driveway to be designated as a road. With the potential sale of the property, the road, he says needs to go back to being a driveway that is a private drive, closed to the public.

Here’s a portion of the Resolution approved by the Board….

In other business, the Board tabled until next week, a presentation by Kate Olson, with a request for ARPA funds to temporarily expand the role of the Cass County Wellness Coordinator to address local public health priorities and assist in long-term pandemic recovery efforts. And, they tabled discussion/action on an investment policy revision.

The Board voted four-to-1, with Wendy Richter opposed, to reduce the Compensation Board salary recommendation for elected County officials by 40-percent to 6.0-percent, and 8.1-percent for the Sheriff. The Compensation Board’s recommendation was for 10-percent increase for elected officials and 13.5-percent for the Sheriff. Richter said she thought the cuts should have been more: 50-to 60-percent.

The Supervisors heard a report from Cass/Guthrie County Environmental Health Director Jotham Arber, and a regular, weekly report from Cass County Engineer Trent Wolken.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak report the arrest today (Tuesday), of 40-year-old Joseph Aaron Nelson, from Red Oak. Nelson was taken into custody at around 9:10-a.m. in the 200 block of Oakwood Avenue, and charged with Domestic Abuse Assault causing bodily injury. He was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.