Weld County SWAT team members did a building-by-building search of Aims Community College after a series of phone calls made threats of violence against police and a woman, but officials later announced they believe the call was a hoax.
It does not appear at this time that anyone was ever in danger at the campus at 5401 W. 20th St. in Greeley.
It may have been a case of “swatting” — a prank where a caller uses false information to try to get a SWAT team to surround someone or something.
Authorities did say that the call came from a “spoofed” — or disguised — phone.
The incident began after the fun run, which took place at 9 a.m. Saturday on the Aims campus, already had been completed. There were no classes Saturday morning, and there were not many people on campus when the incident began.
Aims president Marsi Liddell said she was called just before noon to come back to campus because of a SWAT situation.
“All I know is I got a call that the SWAT team was out here. They are definitely out here,” she said, before authorities determined the call was likely a hoax. “They did a lockdown.”
The Greeley Tribune contributed to this report.
