MILWAUKEE- Germantown, Franklin, Fond Du Lac and Neenah are the latest areas affected in a possible string of school bomb threats. That makes at least nine in Wisconsin this week. Most of the threats are coming in the form of an automated phone call. Wisconsin schools aren’t alone. Similar calls are coming in all over the country and even overseas. Law enforcement is investigating if the robo calls are related.
Even though there's speculation these threats might be a prank, Franklin School's Superintendent says they're taking the threat made at Franklin High School Wednesday morning seriously.
"It's frustrating that we have people out there that think that this is something that is either amusing of something that is going to get some attention," said Dr. Steve Patz, Franklin Schools Superintendent.
Germantown Police can't say for sure if the bomb threat at County Line Elementary was a robo call, but say it's likely.
"We simply can't ignore it. We don't know where the threat is coming from and we've got to take steps," explained Chief Peter Hoell, Germantown Police.
A local cyber investigator believes the person responsible is using an inexpensive, yet complex software program.
"Collecting lots of numbers, putting them into a form that would automatically dial and using perhaps a disguised voice alert of a bomb threat is really what seems to be happening," explained Alex Holden, Hold Security.
It's hard to say why someone would do this.
"Somebody is doing these malicious pranks for fun or for other purposes," said Holden.
