By Pepper Fisher

UPDATE: Sgt. Dave Campbell from the Sequim Police Department emailed us Thursday with following update;

“We strongly believe that the calls were of a “swatting” nature; essentially a false 911 call made to elicit a law enforcement and/or medical response.  As of this moment, we do not know the identity of the caller or the origin of the phone calls, although we have reason to believe the call was likely made from out-of-state.

Our investigation has now been forwarded to the FBI.”

(Below is our original story)

PORT ANGELES – We learned from the Port Angeles School District that this morning, the Sequim and Port Angeles Police Departments received pre-recorded voice calls to 9-1-1 reporting active shootings at both Sequim and Port Angeles Schools. School officials say those calls have been determined to be hoaxes.

They say the first call claimed a shooting was happening at Sequim High School. A second call was placed, and the caller identified themselves as a Port Angeles teacher, claiming a shooting was happening on Port Angeles school grounds.

Sequim School District and Port Angeles School District were notified immediately, and authorities quickly determined that this was a spoof call known as “swatting.” Swatting is a criminal harassment tactic of deceiving an emergency service into sending police or emergency service response teams to an address under the false pretense of an extreme emergency.

Immediately after the calls were received, administration and local law enforcement walked through all school buildings to confirm that there was no threat of violence at any schools in Sequim and Port Angeles. We’re told that normal school activities will continue throughout the day, and regular patrols will continue.

This is a developing story, and we’ll provide updates as more information becomes available.