WAREHAM — Police are investigating whether Monday's email threat — which produced a massive law enforcement response and terrified town residents caught in the middle — was a hoax, Police Chief Kevin D. Walsh said.
The chief confirmed his department is investigating this possibility as part of its overall probe of the incident.
Asked specifically if he thought the incident was a hoax, the chief would only say that it was "under investigation."
"We're investigating all aspects of the incident," he later added in the interview.
If determined to be a hoax, it would be at least the second such incident on SouthCoast. In May of 2015, 14 heavily-armed Westport and state police officers checked every inch of Westport High School for "an active shooter," after receiving a call about a hostage situation.
The caller said he was hiding in a closet for his own safety and that people had been shot and there were hostages being held in the cafeteria; a police search of the high school produced nothing.
A 14-year-old Westport boy was later charged in that incident. He also was charged with making a false report of a shooting on Old Farm Road in Westport as well as other incidents in Fall River and "numerous (prank and false report) calls" to police in Boxford, Ma., Los Angeles and Tampa.
In the Wareham incident, heavily-armed police swept and evacuated three schools, after a threat was relayed by way of email. The schools in session for summer school and basketball camps were Wareham High School, Wareham Middle School and Minot Forest Elementary School. Walsh said roughly 80 to 100 students were at the high school, about 200 to 300 at the middle school and about 60 to 70 students at the elementary.
After the last sweep was done Monday afternoon, police had not found a suspect, and on Thursday Walsh there have been no arrests.
Walsh described the threat at a press conference on Monday as "very specific." It was emailed at 10 a.m. and said they were inside a school and threatening to shoot people, he said. The email was short, did not identify the school and the department went to the schools that were in session.
The incident was terrifying to students and family members affected. "You see this happening all around the world, but when it happens to you it's a lot scarier," said 15-year-old Brian Whitney, who was among the students evacuated from Wareham High School by heavily armed officers.
The chief said Thursday that he would not release the threatening email to the media. "I don't want to alarm anyone," he said.
Asked about the costs of the massive police operation, the chief said it was "not my concern. My concern was the safety of the kids."
But the response was massive. Besides state and Wareham police, the South Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement SWAT Team, the Cape Cod Law Enforcement Council SWAT Team, the Wareham Fire Department and neighboring town departments like Plymouth, Rochester, Middleboro, Carver and others all responded, Walsh said.
Lt. Tom Ryan, a state police spokesman, said Thursday they received a request from Wareham police about 10 a.m. Monday and dispatched a helicopter, members of the STOP Team, the Bomb Squad, a canine unit and field troopers from the Bourne barracks.
Follow Curt Brown on Twitter @CurtBrown_SCT
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