What Criminal Charges Will Come From “Cruel Hoax” at Villanova? How Serious is the “Swatting” at Nova Nation?
What happened at Villanova?
Villanova University, the once small regional private Roman Catholic college on Pennsylvania’s Main Line that has grown to a national academic and athletic powerhouse, once again made headlines recently for the wrong reasons. The suburban campus now known not only for its world-class facilities but it’s extremely low crime rate, was the site of an alleged active shooter. This report came during the University’s freshman orientation when thousands of new students and their families attended an outdoor Mass.
Hundreds of police officers, SWAT, state police and emergency services descended on to Campus. The report, however, turned out to be a complete hoax! While the University has issued a statement along with local authorities, the damage is done. If and when this person is found, he or she will face criminal charges.
What is Swatting?
Governor Josh Shapiro issued a statement and declared that “swatting” is illegal but didn’t define the term for the public. Currently, there is only pending legislation in the Commonwealth that directly addressing swatting. For now, however, there are existing laws which can adequately address this incident.
Terroristic Threats – 18 Pa. C.S. § 2706
In Pennsylvania, “swatting” is making a false report of an emergency to cause a police response. It is considered terroristic threat in Pennsylvania under 18 Pa. C.S. § 2706 defines terroristic threats as a communication threatening to cause death or serious public inconvenience.
It most situations, it is a misdemeanor of the first degree unless it forces evacuation of a public area, which elevates it to a felony of the third degree. This is what at Villanova and so the perpetrator could face hundreds, if not thousands of terroristic threat as the result of his or her actions.
It is not a defense that this hoax was a joke. The district attorney only must prove that the threat was made with a reckless disregard for the risk of causing terror or public inconvenience. The burden of proof in this case, like any criminal case, is beyond a reasonable doubt.
False Alarm to Agencies of Public Safety-18 Pa.C.S. §4905
While this person responsible for the hoax could also face 18 Pa.C.S. §4905–False Alarms to Agencies of public safety , this charge is a misdemeanor of the first degree unless it occurred during a declared state of emergency. Since there was no declared state of emergency when the incident at Villanova occurred, this person would not face a felony of the 3rd degree charge.
Pending Swatting Legislation in Pennsylvania
There is pending legislation in Pennsylvania that targets Swatting and this incident at Villanova will likely cause Pennsylvania legislators to pass it and the Governor to sign it quickly. The incident at Villanova is not that uncommon. Over the last few years, the number of swatting incidents have grown drastically.
School districts across the nation have received calls about potential active-shooters or bomb threats in the school. Several school district in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have received these calls about an active shooter situation which has forced law enforcement and other emergency services to respond to each situation. This has not only caused parents unnecessary fear and wasted local emergency response resources.
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