North Texas police respond to several swatting calls over the weekend

The calls included a report of an active shooter at a Southlake Costco that was found to be a false report, police say.

SOUTHLAKE, Texas — North Texas police departments responded to several swatting calls over the weekend, including a reported active shooter at a Southlake Costco that turned out to be a false alarm.

According to the Southlake Police Department, officers were called at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday to the Costco in the 2600 block of State Highway 113 in response to a report of an active shooter.

Officers quickly secured the scene and searched the building and parking lot, police say, but no evidence of any threat was found. Employees on the scene didn’t report any gunshots or suspicious activity either. 

Police said there was no threat to the public and normal operations resumed.

Also on Saturday, Fort Worth police say they were called to an incident at a home in the 3100 block of Livingston Avenue that had drawn attention online, but that turned out to be a false alarm.

“Swatting calls are quite dangerous,” a Fort Worth police spokesperson said. “Especially if the initial details that are provided to the call taker are of a potentially dangerous situation being described. Officers will respond to the level of threat that they believe they are going to be facing. This can also cause great confusion to the situation and to the persons at the location that we would be responding to.”

On Sunday, the Prosper Police Department said they were called to the Gateway Church campus in town in response to a reported threat.

However, after searching the campus, police say they determined the incident to be a swatting call, false information reported to promote a large emergency response. Police cleared all buildings with no threats identified.