Police have spoken with the targets of a bogus “swatting” incident that locked down the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston for several hours Wednesday.
Evanston police received a call at 2:17 p.m. Wednesday from a person who said he had shot his girlfriend inside an apartment at Englehart Hall, 1915 Maple Ave., about three blocks west of the main campus, according to Evanston Police Cmdr. Ryan Glew.
The incident was determined to be a hoax, Glew said.
On Thursday, Glew said investigators had spoken with the two targets of the incident and said both were unharmed. Police spoke with the person the caller claimed to be his girlfriend. They were unaware of the incident.
Glew said police believed the incident was falsely reported in order to provoke a massive police response, an activity known as “Swatting.”
Officers searched Englehart Hall and found the unit the caller claimed to be in was vacant. No one was found hurt and there was no evidence of a crime scene, police said. The call was later determined to have originated from a phone located near Rockford.
An investigation into the incident was ongoing Thursday, police said. No one was in custody.
Anyone with information was asked to call police at (847) 866-5040 or send a tip via text message to CRIMES (274637) and entering EPDTIP in the message line, followed by the information.
