Fraudulent threat prompts soft lockdown at Springfield High Schools

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) – A soft lockdown was issued for Springfield High Schools, after police received a fake phone call regarding shots fired within the schools.

According to police, at approximately 1:15 p.m., Springfield officers responded to Springfield High School, after a call was received by dispatch stating a shooting had occurred inside of the school.

Police immediately made contact with the School Safety Officer who verified there had been no shooting.

As a precaution officers also responded to both Lanphier High School and Southeast High School, finding no problem at either school.

Upon investigation, police report the same type of call was received by several other districts across the United States.

The Criminal Investigations Division is looking into the origin of the phone call in an attempt to identify who made the call.

The Springfield Police Department reminds the public that they take school threats very seriously and thoroughly investigates these types of incidents.