'Swatting' Incident Reported At East Hampton Schools: Police

EAST HAMPTON, NY — Police responded to a "swatting" incident at East Hampton schools Tuesday, officials said.

East Hampton Town police said many East End school districts received a threatening email overnight, similar in wording to what other school districts across New York State received over the past week.

"Swatting" means a caller falsely states that there is an active shooter in a school, officials have said.

Law enforcement intelligence deemed the threat to be non-credible and part of a robocall scheme, police said. But, out of an "abundance of caution," East Hampton town police deployed teams of officers to each school to thoroughly search and clear each building, authorities said. Uniformed officers have been deployed to the schools and police are monitoring the situation, officials said.

Police said they have been in constant contact with school district leadership, as well as state and county police, they said.

"We applaud the quick and professional response of our local school district's leadership, and we want the community to know that clear communication and cooperation between police and schools is routinely tested for situations such as this," authorities said.

Last week, police issued a warning about false reports of active school shooters across New York state, with several reported in the Hudson Valley. The warning came after similar incidents were reported in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Missouri, and elsewhere around the nation.

New York State police tweeted that "swatting" incidents have occurred across the state.