Jefferson County Public Schools and LMPD officials held a news conference Wednesday morning after the incidents.
JCPS spokesperson Carolyn Callahan said the reports turned out to be "swatting" calls, which is a prank in which a person fraudulently calls for help from police, and posed no threat to the schools.
“We are so thankful that nobody was hurt,” she said.
LMPD Deputy Chief Steve Healey said detectives are looking into the multiple swatting calls they received, particularly someone “claiming to be a victim on the second floor” at Manual. Shortly after, officials said they received another report of an active aggressor at Olmsted.
Healey said the investigation into both incidents is still ongoing.
“I'm very proud of our officers,” Healey said. “Our officers were on scene in minutes and in force, and if this had been an active situation, those response times are what saves lives.”
Similar swatting incidents were also reported in Lexington, Cincinnati and Evansville. In a statement to LPM, FBI Louisville spokesperson Timothy Beam said the bureau is also investigating.
"FBI Louisville is working with LMPD and other local departments to identify those responsible for these hoax threats," Beam said. "Due to the ongoing investigation, we are unable to provide more details. The FBI, however, takes swatting very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk, causes undue stress and fear to the public, and wastes valuable law enforcement resources. We urge the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement immediately."
Mark Hebert, with JCPS, told LPM News earlier Wednesday morning MetroSafe received a call that there was an “active shooter” at Manual.
“They did increase the security level immediately and called the police,” Hebert said.
“Nothing’s been found. There’ve been no shots fired. Everyone’s safe. Everything's good,” he said.
LMPD spokesperson Matthew Sanders sent a statement saying police were sweeping the building.
“At this time there is no active shooter,” Sanders wrote.
In a post on X, LMPD said police were also responding to a report of an active aggressor at Frederick Law Olmsted Academy North, but that there was no active aggressor there either.
“We will take every one of these calls seriously,” the post said.
“Other cities to include Evansville, Lexington and Cincy are all having apparent SWATTING calls currently.”
This story was updated at 3:15 p.m.
Support for this story was provided in part by the Jewish Heritage Fund.
