A campus culture of fear: Are hoaxes and swatting ever going to stop haunting US colleges?

US colleges are facing a surge in swatting hoaxes: false active-shooter calls that trigger lockdowns, panic, and heavy police response. Once pranks, these threats now exploit America’s mass-shooting anxieties, leaving students traumatized and campuses strained. With incidents coordinated online and prevention elusive, swatting blurs the line between hoax and horror, eroding trust in safety systems.