False school shooting threat led to lockdown at Clovis High, police said
Clovis High School was placed under a two-hour lockdown Thursday morning after an anonymous caller threatened a possible shooting on campus.
Clovis Police said it lifted the lockdown at Clovis High after conducting a search of the campus in response to a “swatting” call received early Thursday morning threatening a school shooting.
The lockdown happened shortly after police received a call at 8:53 a.m. from an unknown male reporting a possible shooting on campus, according to the police department.
“The caller stated that he was on campus with a gun, and there were possible gunshots that were heard,” said Ty Wood, the spokesperson for Clovis Police. “We’re reviewing that. Maybe he played sounds of gunshots and screaming in the background.”
Wood said when the police arrived, the campus seemed quiet as usual.
“We started asking the caller questions to see if we could verify, because he said he was on campus,” Wood said. “We were able to verify at some point that it was a lie, that he was not there.”
The police department lifted the lockdown at 10:48 a.m. after officers searched the campus and determined there were no threats or injuries, according to the school district.
The classroom lockdown was cleared around 11:20 a.m., according to students.
Police confirmed that it was a “swatting” type of call, in which someone calls with false information, according to police.
“My heart goes out to our students and staff who experienced fear and the emotional upheaval incidents like this cause on our school campuses,” said Superintendent Corrine Folmer in a statement. “These types of calls and threats cannot be tolerated and the individuals behind these acts should be held accountable.”
Even after determining that there were no active threats, the decision to lock down was made so that the officers could conduct a room-by-room search until the department confirmed the threat was uncredible, Wood said.
Clovis Police is still working on the caller’s identity, Wood said. The caller’s location, identified by the police, indicates that he was not in the Clovis area.
Wood stated that police have received no reports of suspicious activity at Clovis High or its surrounding areas in the past two days. There have been no recent shootings in the area. Police also do not believe this call is connected to any other incidents.
Two weeks ago, Clovis North High School, which is in the City of Fresno, was put under a shelter-in-place order in the afternoon after receiving a threatening call. The lockdown was lifted after Fresno Police swept the campus and found no credible threat.
Students were released without any delays from their normal schedules, according to the school district.
Wood said police departments nationwide have seen an uptick in the swatting-type calls for the last several years. He said it’s rare for agencies in Clovis to receive these calls.
“We don’t experience swatting-type calls very often; however, our officers are well aware of them, and unfortunately, our agencies are getting more and more efficient at this type of call because of how serious it’s taken,” Wood said. “And because of the increased frequency that they occurred. Back in the day, years ago, this was unheard of.”
This story was originally published October 23, 2025 at 2:33 PM.
