Hoax shooting calls reported at Boston University

On Sunday, Boston University was the latest target of “swatting” — the practice of using hoax 911 calls to draw a large police response.

An active shooter alert went out to the Boston University community around 8 p.m. Sunday night. At the same time, the BU Police Department tweeted that there were two calls for active shooters on opposite ends of the campus.

One call reported a shooter at 855 Commonwealth Avenue, where the College of Fine Arts is located. The other call reported a shooter at 233 Bay State Road, the admissions office.

BU Police told Boston.com at 8:40 p.m. that there was “no active threat in the area.” They said they could not comment further due to the “active emergency.”

BUPD said that, although officers were still investigating, the department was “confident” there was no threat to the community in an update just before 8:50 p.m.

“We greatly appreciate your cooperation,” the message read. “Hoax ‘swatting’ calls have been occurring nationally and cause a great deal of anxiety to the community.”

They said there were resources available to those experiencing any trauma related to the incident.

Fake threats of active shooters and bombs have been happening frequently around the country and in New England. FBI officials said last year that some of them could be coming from overseas.

Last Thursday, Stoughton High School was evacuated after multiple students were sent photos of explosive devices during an assembly.

On Monday, a caller told Harvard police there was a shooter in one of the dorms. Students were startled by officers in their room with guns drawn before police determined there was no threat.