Schools across Maine were placed on lockdown because of hoax reports of shootings

Hoaxes known as “swatting” were made at schools across the state on Tuesday, leading to a series of campus lockdowns as Mainers cast their ballots on Election Day.

The calls came through various crisis lines reporting threats from armed shooters on school grounds, said Shannon Moss, spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

“There is no known risk to students, staff or the public at this time,” Moss said.

It's not immediately clear whether the swatting calls are related to Election Day. At least two of the Maine towns that received calls are using a local school as a polling place, and the threats have led to renewed efforts to declare Election Day a holiday in Maine to prevent students from attending polling places in the future.

Bangor School Department spokesman Ray Phinney said Bangor High School received a call from a national crisis center at 10 a.m. reporting that a person with a rifle was on school grounds.

The call triggered a campus security lockdown that was lifted at 10:25 a.m. after Bangor police searched the campus and determined there was no threat, Phinney said.

South Portland High School was also targeted and placed on lockdown. It was lifted at 12:30 p.m

The doors of the nearby South Portland Community Center were locked and local streets closed for about 25 to 30 minutes during the lockdown, said John Hartford, the polling station's director.

During that time, voters did not have access to the polling place, but Hartford stressed that no one was told they could not vote.

As of 11:22 a.m., voting was underway again in the community center

Lewiston and Sanford received hoaxes and both used a local school as a polling place, but they did not impose a lockdown and voting was not affected, said Emily Cook, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

David Trahan, executive director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, said his organization will support a bill that would make Election Day a holiday to address safety concerns at schools where children attend.

That idea was generally supported by Democrats in previous discussions in Congress and the Maine Legislature, making the gun rights group's move after the mass shooting in Lewiston last year notable.

“Terrorizing children — and their families — for political reasons is just the lowest thing,” Trahan said.

Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in South Paris, Noble High School in North Berwick, Portland High School and Scarborough High School were confirmed to have received similar calls.

BDN editor Michael Shepherd and writer Callie Ferguson contributed to this report.