Saginaw Twp police speak about seriousness of active shooter calls

SAGINAW TWP., Mich. (WNEM) - Saginaw Township police spoke about their reaction to the fake call about an active shooter at Nouvel Catholic Center High School on Tuesday.

“Arrived on scene and we had to force entry into the school with a vehicle. Entry was gained into the school,” Saginaw Township Police Lt. Jim Rich said.

The department received, what turned out to be a bogus call, of an active shooter at Nouvel Catholic Central High School. The caller also stated two students had already been shot, which was also untrue. However, at the time, the police didn’t know that.

Rich said when the first officer arrived at the school, the doors were locked, so the police vehicle became the key.

“Time is of the essence, so the quicker we can get in, the better. And we actually talk about gaining entry through different means in training, and using a vehicle is one of the ways that we talked about,” Rich said.

Critical incident manager Tom Mynsberge said law enforcement treats a report of an active shooter aggressively.

“That’s what we’re supposed to do is get in there and stop the killing as quick as they can. Especially when you get it reported like that,” Mynsberge said.

These hoax calls known as ‘swatting’ were taking place throughout the state. Swatting is meant to induce a strong response from the police.

Mynsberge said he wants people to know these false statements can create real consequences.

“Our officers are there, and a lot of times they’re putting their lives in jeopardy and others just to get there to get the officers inside the school to stop whatever is going on in there,” Mynsberge said. “They’re very dangerous.”

Even though these reports were made up, the next call could be the real thing, which is why Mynsberge said schools and police can’t let their guard down.

“We have to stay up. We have to be able to respond to it. And I think that’s our best method to if something does happen, to minimize that impact,” Mynsberge said.

Rich said all active shooter calls at a school will be investigated thoroughly.

“It takes some time before you can give the all clear. You know, we have to go through and make sure that nothing has happened and that everything is safe before we can give the all-clear to the parents,” Rich said. “So there’s some uncertain time there for them that I’m sure is very stressful.”

The investigation into the threats is ongoing.

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