Columbia, S.C. (WACH) — A false report of an active shooter at the University of South Carolina on Sunday night led to widespread panic and confusion among students and staff, as law enforcement responded to what was later confirmed to be a swatting hoax.
Olivia Borsodi, a freshman at USC, expressed the unsettling reality of such incidents. “It’s definitely weird that it’s been happening so much that the back of mind was this even real, is this even happening,” she said.
The hoax began with two calls that prompted a response from law enforcement, who searched the Thomas Cooper Library and the campus for a reported gunman. Meanwhile, social media was rife with rumors, including viral posts mistaking a man’s umbrella for a rifle and false reports of multiple shooters, arrests, and even deaths.
Hamza Ebrahim, another USC freshman, recounted the chaos. “I saw texts that there were people injured and killed in the library, I didn’t know what was going on,” he said…