SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — In what one law enforcement official described as likely to be an incident of “swatting,” multiple Bay Area high schools received active shooter threats on Wednesday. Swatting is when someone makes a false report of a serious crime in order to “elicit a response from law enforcement.”

South San Francisco High School

Earlier, law enforcement agencies responded to a report of an active shooter at South San Francisco High School, that was later said to have no merit. The initial report of an active shooter threat was tweeted out by South San Francisco PD. There was no evidence to suggest that an active shooting situation has occurred, the tweet said. The school was temporarily placed on lockdown as a precaution, however that lockdown was lifted as of 11 a.m.

A tweet from President of the South San Francisco Unified School District Board of Trustees John Baker confirmed there was no active shooter and that the police response at SSFHS was due to “an apparently unfounded threat.”

According to the South San Francisco Unified School District, South SF PD received a report around 10 a.m. that an unauthorized person was on campus. South SF PD notified the school district and South San Francisco High.

“No students or staff were harmed, and police have confirmed that there is no danger to our school community,” SSFUSD said in a statement.

The campus then went into “secure mode,” which means perimeter and interior doors were locked. South San Francisco PD searched the campus and determined there was no threat.

Woodside High School

In another incident, a representative with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office reached out to KRON4 to say there was “no merit” to an active shooter report at Woodside High and that it was likely an incident of “swatting.”

KRON4 reached out to the school district which confirmed that police were on campus at Woodside High and that the school was in secure mode. All students and staff were reportedly safe.

“After the school was searched and Sheriff’s Deputies confirmed there was no threat to public safety, the school lockdown was lifted to resume normal activity,” said the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office in a statement.

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George Washington High School

San Francisco Unified School District also confirmed that there was an active shooter threat at George Washington High in San Francisco Wednesday morning. However, in that case it was determined there was no merit to the threat and no lockdown occurred.

Lincoln High School

Another apparent incident of a false active shooter report also occurred at Lincoln High School in San Jose. The San Jose Police Department received a call at 10:55 a.m. reporting that multiple students at the school had been shot, KRON4 confirmed.

Officers responded and cleared the campus. “At this time, we believe the call was a hoax,” SJPD Sergeant Christian Camarillo told KRON4. “Other schools in the San Francisco area received the same call, all were unfounded.”

McClymonds High School

A representative with Oakland Unified School District also said McClymonds High School also received a false active shooter threat.

Irvington High School in Fremont

According to an alert from Fremont PD, Fremont police and Fremont Fire also responded to a high school in Fremont due to a report of a shooting on campus. The reporting party claimed to be on the campus when the shots were fired, according to the report. Officers arrived on the scene and the school was placed on lockdown. After a thorough search, officers failed to locate suspects or victims and the report was determined to be unfounded.

The lockdown was lifted and the school returned to regular instruction, according to police. A separate statement from Fremont Unified School District confirmed that the incident occurred at Irvington High School and that all students and staff are safe.

It is not known at this time if the incidents are related.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.