After receiving a call about a possible active shooter, a massive and heavily armed police response swarmed Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Wednesday evening, terrifying sick patients, their families and medical staff, who only later learned the call was a twisted and illegal prank known as “swatting.”
The caller reportedly told law enforcement officials that he was in front of the hospital armed and with a bomb and was planning on “shooting up” everyone inside.
Unaware the call was a prank, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department responded in full force, notifying the public via social media that they were “actively clearing” the facility and that the public should avoid the area.
“We have work phones, and they said this is not a drill, this is real,” a hospital staff member who evacuated told reporters.
It took law enforcement officials nearly two hours to clear the facility and determine there was no threat, and while, fortunately, no one was hurt during the ordeal, at least two people have been killed because of “swatting” calls in the U.S.
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San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies on the scene of a ‘swatting’ call at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital on March 12, 2025. (OnScene.TV) -
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies on the scene of a ‘swatting’ call at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital on March 12, 2025. (OnScene.TV) -
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies on the scene of a ‘swatting’ call at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital on March 12, 2025. (OnScene.TV)
Retired Secret Service Agent turned criminal justice expert Bobby McDonald said “swatting” calls can lead to serious unintended consequences.
“It brings a level of excitement to whoever called it in, but it could put a lot of people in the way of injury and harm,” he explained to KTLA’s Samatha Cortese. “It’s very dangerous for all involved – doctors, nurses, police, other people on the road as police zoom by them at high speeds during rush hour.”
McDonald also characterized “swatting” calls as an expensive waste of emergency resources.
“It is a painstaking, meticulous process police have to go through to make sure they are comfortable to give the all-clear to doctors, nurses and children receiving treatment at the location,” he explained.
As for San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus, he had a message for the prankster.
“The one thing I want this suspect to know, this is the wrong county to do those things in,” he told reporters.
Investigators said they do have a lead on who’s responsible for the dangerous stunt and that the penalties for incidents like this can include felony charges, jail time and heavy fines.
