Schools across Maine placed on lockdown over hoax shooting threats

Hoax threats, known as “swatting,” were called in to schools throughout the state on Tuesday, triggering a number of campus lockdowns as Mainers cast their votes on Election Day. 
The calls came in through various crisis lines and reported threats of armed shooters on school campuses, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said. 
“There is presently no known threat to the students, staff or public at this time,” Moss said. 
It’s not immediately clear if the swatting calls are connected to Election Day. At least two of the towns in Maine that received calls use a local school as a polling location, and the threats have prompted a renewed effort to declare Election Day a holiday in Maine to prevent students from being present at polling places moving forward.
Bangor High School received a phone call from a national crisis line at 10 a.m. reporting a person with a rifle on the school grounds, Bangor School Department spokesperson Ray Phinney said. 
The call prompted a secure hold on the campus, which was lifted at 10:25 a.m. after the Bangor Police Department searched the campus and found there was no threat, Phinney said. 
South Portland High School was also targeted and put into a lockdown. It was lifted by 12:30 p.m.
The doors at the nearby South Portland Community Center were locked for about 25-30 minutes during the lockdown and local roads were closed, John Hartford, the warden at the polling location, said. 
During that time, voters could not access the polling place, but Hartford stressed that no one was told they could not vote. 
Voting was back underway at the community center as of 11:22 a.m.
Lewiston and Sanford received hoax calls and both use a local school as a polling location, but they did not lock down and voting was not affected, Emily Cook, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, said. 
David Trahan, the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, said his organization will be backing a bill to make Election Day a holiday to alleviate security concerns at schools that children are attending.
This idea has generally been backed by Democrats in past discussions in Congress and the Maine Legislature, making the gun-rights group’s move notable in the wake of last year’s Lewiston mass shooting.
“Terrorizing kids for political purposes — and their families — is just the lowest,” Trahan said.
Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in South Paris, Noble High School in North Berwick, Portland High School and Scarborough High School are confirmed to have received similar calls. 
BDN editor Michael Shepherd and writer Callie Ferguson contributed to this report.