Pensacola Catholic High was the victim of a swatting incident on Wednesday, Feb. 8, when someone notified law enforcement of a possible active shooter situation at the school. Pensacola Police and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office dispatched units and found it was a false alarm.
Unfortunately, Escambia County’s Everbridge alert system failed to operate properly. The alert system is a reverse 911 notification system that sends texts to groups of people in a defined geographic area. Escambia County Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore told Inweekly that the first message failed to include a headline with key facts about the incident, such as where the shooting occurred.
The message stated, “A civil authority has issued a civil emergency message for the following counties or areas: Escambia, FL; at 11:41 a.m. on Feb. 8, 2023, effective to 12:41 p.m. Message from IPAWSCAP. Active shooter reported in your area, run, hide or fight. Active shooter reported in your area, run, hide or fight.”
Though county staff marked the appropriate area to receive the message on the computer, the warning was sent well beyond Pensacola Catholic’s neighborhood to Milton and Santa Rosa counties. Later, when the all cleared message was sent, the text was received by a much smaller group of people, leaving many worried about their safety.
Gilmore said part of the problem was human error and not completely understanding the new systems. However, his staff is working with the software company to figure out why the mistakes happened, and his people will be better prepared for the next emergency notification.