10/2/2024

Good afternoon,

Today, I received this message from Rob Watson, the head of School Administrators of Montana. This message was sent out to give all schools in the State a heads up on what could happen tomorrow. SRO Gale is aware of the situation, as well as dispatch and others in law enforcement. We will keep you informed if anything comes up tomorrow.

Mark Johnston

I routinely get messages from our contacts at MT DOJ. The one below involves swatting calls potentially to happen tomorrow, Oct 3, Thursday. Just an FYI.  Please let me know if you have any questions. Rob

A group that is notorious for making hoax swatting calls across the nation claim that they will make swatting calls on 03 October 2024 and are taking requests for any schools that members want swatted. This group will not only target schools, but also specific people, swatting their house or using their name during the swatting call. This group will often call into the emergency line for their styles of swatting. It is unknown if the suspects use a voice changer during the call itself or if they use their actual voice but something to note is that the caller will most likely have an accent of some sort as they are often calling internationally. They have a few different scripts they read from with the most common being that they are in the bathroom at a school with an AR and are ready to kill students. This group will also make fictitious reporting calls using a house address and claiming they saw people arguing where one of them has a gun or that their neighbor is screaming, and someone is inside their house with a gun.

We are not aware of anyone receiving these calls in Montana at this time.

Bryan Gortmaker, MT DOJ/DCI

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What is swatting: The action or practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.
Mark J. Johnston

Superintendent

Ronan School District No. 30