Some concerns raised over the alleged campus swatting incident on campus
Billy Lopatto, Dawsyn Wilson, and Ryan Phillips
According to a City of Monmouth Police Department press release, around 10 p.m., department officers, alongside the Warren and Knox County Sherrif’s Department and the Illinois State Police, responded to an anonymous report of an active situation on Monmouth College campus.
Law enforcement arrived on campus and had begun their operation before campus officials were alerted. “As an HR, my first response was making sure that campus safety knew and that faculty/deans knew,” said Head Resident Assistant of Graham Hall, Natalie Labicki. “My next thought was the safety of my residents. I heard my residents within the halls of the second floor, so I went up there and told them to stay behind the doors and remain quiet.”
While collaborating with the police and assessing the ongoing situation, campus officials sent an official statement via email and mass text message at 10:38p.m., saying: “Police on the scene to investigate an alleged active shooter report. For precaution, please stay in your hall until further notice.” The statement came out 38 minutes after the initial report.
Once securing her building, Labicki notified the other HRs on campus. “Once I checked with my building and staff, I alerted the other HRs on campus of the situation and said something to their residents so as not to go outside. I reacted quickly and in order of importance,” she said. HRs of different buildings sent emails to their buildings, alerting residents of the situation and telling them to stay inside, lock their doors, and stay together.
Prior to the campus-wide alert, students were alerted to the potential danger by anonymous messages on Yik Yak and posts on Facebook and other social media. During the incident, people posted various speculations about the alleged assailant and law enforcement’s response.
“I understand that everyone is going to react differently. I was up till maybe 1am-2am answering my phone from people on campus who were worried or needed some clarity...Most of my residents were just confused at first as they weren’t sure what was happening and no one had said anything to us,” said Labicki.
Some students and other campus community members have begun to criticize the college’s initial communication. The mass email telling students to shelter in place was sent out at 10:38 p.m., 38 minutes after police initially responded.
After sweeping through campus, authorities found there to be no active situation, and thus no active threat to the campus community. Labicki said; “They were thorough, asked a lot of questions, secured the area, and they came prepared. When I first noticed, there were maybe six police cars out front of Graham and the circle. By the end of it all, there were over a dozen police cars with twice as many officers. They were also very respectful to me and anyone in my building that they talked to.”
At 10:59pm, college officials sent out a campus-wide alert: “All clear, MPD has confirmed after investigation there is no evidence of an active shooter and this was a swatting call. Campus is secure.”
Monmouth PD is now investigating this incident as a swatting case. Swatting is the event in which a person makes a false report of a potentially life-threatening event, such as an active shooter, bomb threat, or hostage situation, which elicits a large-scale response from law enforcement.
Monmouth is the most recent incident of swatting calls on colleges and universities across the United States. In August, false reports of an active shooter were made at Iowa State University. The University of Arkansas was also targeted after false reports of a shooter in their library.
If you have information regarding the December 1st incident, contact Monmouth Police Department’s non-emergency number at 309-734-8383. Anonymous tips can also be sent to the Warren County Crime Stoppers at 309-734-9363.