WELD COUNTY – What police believe was a prank call led to a lockdown at Aims Community College in Greeley as the Weld County SWAT team and local law enforcement agencies searched for a man who supposedly made threats against a woman on campus.
A call first came in about the incident shortly before 11 a.m. Authorities say a man on the phone claimed he was on campus with his girlfriend, who he said he was going to harm with a weapon.
Roughly 80 first-responders were sent to the school, and a search began for the man. The investigation was concentrated in the area near Ed Beatty Hall.
"The suspect said he was going to try and harm anyone that came to stop him from what he was doing and started threatening other acts of violence," said Weld County Sheriff Steven Reams. "Because of those threats, we dispatched multiple deputies to the area."
As the Weld County Sheriff's SWAT team searched for the man, other deputies were working with the college's IT department to track the call.
Through their efforts, authorities later determined that the phone call that sparked the investigation was not placed anywhere near campus, and was a prank. Police don't believe anyone on campus was in danger during the incident.
The Weld County Sheriff's Office is now trying to track the original caller, who called a non-emergency line. Because it was not a call made through 911, Weams said it is more difficult to track where the call was made because the tracking system is different for non-emergency calls.
Weams said a "false reporting" charge is considered a "minor offense," but added that a person could face heavy fines if convicted.
"It's very concerning. You don't want these kind of calls happening at all. You don't want to waste the taxpayer resources," Reams said. "The whole idea of us being here for an unnecessary call is just troubling."
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