Two Lafayette schools went into lockdown today after an anonymous automated call warned of a potential threat, sending police scrambling to sweep both campuses before lifting the lockdowns by 1:50 PM. Acalanes High School and Stanley Intermediate School were both affected, disrupting classes just one week into the fall semester.
According to KRON4, Acalanes High School received a potential threat through an anonymous automated call, while Stanley Intermediate School separately received a threat as well. Officers treated the calls as credible enough to warrant an immediate, full emergency response at both sites, even as preliminary information suggested the incident was likely a swatting call — a false report designed to trigger a large-scale police response.
Drones Sweep Acalanes Campus as Officers Search Grounds
During the response, the Lafayette Police Department deployed aerial drones over the Acalanes High School campus on Pleasant Hill Road to inspect the grounds while searching for potential threats, according to SFGATE. Officers remained on the Acalanes campus as a precaution even after the initial search, while a separate team of officers worked the grounds at Stanley Intermediate School at 3455 School Street to determine whether a viable threat had actually been called in, per KTVU FOX 2.
Police completed a thorough search of Acalanes High School and determined the campus was clear, finding no active threat to students, staff, or the surrounding community. The lockdowns at both Acalanes High School and Stanley Intermediate School were lifted by 1:50 p.m., the department said.
Second Week of Classes Disrupted by Hoax Call
The scare landed during the second week of classes at Acalanes, which had just opened its fall semester last Tuesday, according to Bay City News. Acalanes High School is part of the Acalanes Union High School District, which operates four main high schools serving roughly 5,589 students across Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, and Walnut Creek, per Wikipedia's entry on the district.
This is not the first time security disruptions have hit the Lafayette campus. Acalanes has previously weathered a 2014 lockdown triggered by social media threats that ended in a suspect's detention, and a 2016 lockdown while police searched the surrounding area for fleeing pursuit suspects, according to Daily Tribute News.
Part of a Wider Pattern of Swatting Calls at Schools
Monday's incident fits a broader, troubling pattern of automated hoax calls hitting schools across the region and beyond. In November 2024, Piedmont High School and several other Bay Area campuses were placed on lockdown following a series of automated swatting threat calls, as Hoodline reported at the time. More recently, in February, Alameda High School was placed on shelter-in-place status after a recorded phone message claimed a suspicious device was in the parking lot — a threat police sweeps later confirmed was false.
Federal guidance from the FBI emphasizes that local law enforcement agencies must treat every suspicious robocall or threat report as potentially real, even as automated spoofing tools make it difficult to trace where such calls actually originate. That mandate helps explain why Lafayette police mounted a full drone-and-boots-on-the-ground response to Monday's call rather than dismissing it outright, even amid early suspicions it was a hoax.
Legal Risk for Anyone Behind the Hoax
Under California Penal Code § 148.3, falsely reporting an emergency is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in county jail and a $1,000 fine. The offense escalates to a felony carrying fines up to $10,000 if the emergency response it triggers results in death or great bodily injury, according to Justia's summary of the statute. California law also permits courts to order those convicted to pay restitution covering the cost of the emergency response.
The Lafayette Police Department's use of drones during Monday's search reflects an emergency preparedness framework that incorporates aerial technology and regional cooperation with Contra Costa County agencies to evaluate suburban emergency reports, according to Lamorinda Weekly. No injuries were reported at either campus, and police say there is no ongoing threat to students, staff, or the surrounding community.
