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Swatting Incident Disrupts Iowa State

Members of a police S.W.A.T. team search a neighborhood in Watertown.

Iowa State University police say false reports of an active shooter on campus yesterday were a result of swatting. Authorities received several calls yesterday as students returned to campus for the first day of fall classes. ISU Police Chief Michael Newton says a campus alert wasn't issued because the reports were quickly identified as a hoax. Swatting calls are false police reports or fake 9-1-1 calls, usually about a mass shooting or bombing. Yesterday's incident follows a recent string of false reports at public universities nationwide, including the University of Arkansas and Villanova University.