Cape Coral police say possible swatting call at Mariner High School

Authorities have given the all-clear after a possible swatting call led to police activity at Mariner High School on Thursday afternoon.

The school was placed on a brief lockdown, but now students will be dismissed from school as normal.

Mariner Middle was also placed on lockdown as a precaution.

The swatting call, the school district said, will lead to buses running late. The school district is also asking the public to avoid the area due to increased traffic.

The school is located at 701 Chiquita Boulevard North and serves students from Cape Coral, the neighboring villages on Pine Island, and North Fort Myers.

Cape Coral police Chief Anthony Sizemore said the police department got a call at 1:08 p.m. alerting them to an active shooting at the high school who shot six student.

Two school resource officers are on site and immediately sprang into action, putting the school on lockdown, Sizemore said. They searched for victims and the shooter but found none.

Cape Coral police officers heard it on the radio and all got to the school within two minutes, Sizemore said.

There was “no debating to see who’s in charge,” Sizemore said, referring to the delayed response at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. “We don’t have that here.”

Students were then escorted outside of the school to allow officers to search the school in a more “detailed manner.” They didn’t find anything.

Sizemore said after the pandemic and Hurricane Ian, the community doesn’t have time for this.

No arrests have been made, Sizemore said. He said the voice over the phone appeared to be male but they could have used voice-altering software.

Swatting incidents are very emotional for students, Sizemore said, adding that if people saw the toll they take on students, they would stop.

Cape Coral police held a press conference about the incident. Watch it in the video player below.

There are no injuries at this time, and the incident is being considered a possible “swatting call.”

Swatting is when someone makes a false call to authorities in order to draw a large police presence. A similar incident happened at South Fort Myers High School in September.

Cape Coral police said children are safe and will return back to their classrooms and dismissal will return as normal.