South Portland Police Find South Portland High School Safe, Determine Threat to be a Hoax
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine – At 10:36 AM today, Tuesday, November 5, 2024 South Portland Police responded to an anonymous call to dispatch claiming there was an active shooter at South Portland High School. Police put the High School and nearby South Portland Community Center on lockdown. Police also put all South Portland schools in secure mode, with no one allowed in or out of buildings, during the investigation.
Police searched the High School and surrounding area. After determining the area was safe and no threat present, Police lifted the lockdown at the Community Center at approximately 11:20 AM. The Community Center is a polling location, and voting was temporarily but only minimally impacted while no one was permitted to enter the building. Because a line for voting had already formed inside, people continued to vote during the lockdown. There was a roughly 10-minute period when no voting occurred due to the lockdown. Voting continued as normal once the lockdown was lifted and will continue today until 8 PM as scheduled.
South Portland Police continued their thorough search of the High School. Finding no evidence of a threat, police lifted the lockdown at the High School at 12:30 PM.
Maine State Police say multiple communities across the state and country received similar calls. Police believe these to be “swatting” calls, or hoax threats faking an emergency to provoke an emergency response. Bangor, Sanford, Scarborough, and Oxford Hills received similar calls today. Police found no threat in any of the communities that received these calls, and State Police confirmed there is no threat to the public.
The South Portland Police Department takes every threat seriously and takes action accordingly. Chief Ahern would like to thank the South Portland School Department and the South Portland school community for their cooperation and patience while they investigated this threat.
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