Swatting hoaxes spark panic on college campuses - CNN [View all]

Reports of active shooters wielding assault rifles on campus sent excited students preparing for a new school year at Villanova University in Pennsylvania and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga into lockdown as law enforcement officers surged to the schools to assess the threats. Students hid behind walls, locked themselves into dorm rooms and frantically texted loved ones.

At both schools, the reports turned out to be false: There were no gunmen found, no shots fired. They’re part of an apparent wave of fake reports that have struck university campuses across the country, stirring fear and disruption from Pennsylvania to Arizona.