Bogus active shooter calls to schools across Wisconsin took a real toll on families and law enforcement.
The fake threats, known as swatting, hit schools in Madison, Janesville, Kenosha, Franklin, Milwaukee, Port Washington, and Sheboygan to name a few.
Thursday morning dispatchers in Kenosha relayed an alarming call detailing a man with a rifle reportedly on the second floor of Bradford High School.
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Law enforcement rushed to the school. Families anxiously lined up trying to get to their kids.
In the end, authorities said there was never a credible threat.
"It was pretty terrifying. You know, sitting there in my car, crying," said Alyssa Rehm, a parent at Bradford High School.
In the heat of the moment, one student thought about how to escape.
"I looked at the window. I was thinking, maybe I could just take the stool and then bash it on the corner of the window and then maybe get people to get out," TJ Royce recalled.
An eerily similar scene played out at Port Washington High School. 14-year-old Cameron Bennett was in health class at the time.
"We all hid under the tables," Bennett said.
His mother was relieved but overcome with emotion even after finding out the threat was not real.
"If something would've happened to him, I just don't know. This is just a sick world," Rachel Bennett said.
A phony threat also hit Rufus King High School in Milwaukee. 15-year-old Milan Sanchez just finished band class when the alert came through. She left school early with her mom.
"She was like, are you okay? Anything I can do? I was like, 'No I'm fine it was just a little scary. I'm a little shaky right now,'" Sanchez said.
The teen echoed what many students and parents felt.
"You never know what could happen throughout the day. It could be a prank one minute, the next minute it could be real," Sanchez said.
As news of the swatting calls spread, some school districts reached out to their families proactively.
The School District of Menomonee Falls made it clear they did not receive a false alert and noted that it seemed the calls were coming from outside of the country.
Other states like Minnesota and Florida have reported similar rashes of false threats at schools.
