In the autumn of 2025, a series of swatting attacks across the country mainly targeted universities. According to a local terrorism researcher, Doane University in Nebraska was one of them. Officials said swatting is often used to disrupt communities and cause panic. Now researchers say the people committing the crime are using new technologies. Senior researcher Mackenzie Harms of the National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology, and Education Center – or NCITE – said she began further researching swatting attacks in the fall of 2025 as part of a portfolio on the rising trend of nihilistic violent extremism. “Many of the attacks that occurred on universities in the fall semester, approximately in August 2025, were all attributed to a group operating within that network,” Harms said. “Now we’ve taken a broader look because we see it as a tactic that’s used in many different areas. So it’s used as part of threats to government officials. It’s used as part of, you know, other online networks, how people get karma in the communities in which they operate.” Harms said swatting is becoming an increasingly popular tactic because perpetrators often view it as low risk. “Swatting has been around, and I would say they’ve been paying attention to it since about 2008. But I would say it’s become a more popular tactic in the last year or two,” Harms said. “Part of the swatting calls and the reason it’s so attractive as a tactic is because it’s somewhat low risk. You don’t actually risk physical interception by law enforcement as you would with a physical attack, but you’re still able to cause an insane amount of impact and cost to the target of the swatting attack.” One of the other reasons, Harms said, is that there are more tools available. “A lot of these online communities share protocols. What technologies you can use to support this, scripts you can use, they identify targets,” Harms said. One of those technologies is artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence. “One of the biggest ways we’re seeing is AI-enabled voice,” Harms said. “So with AI, one of the things they do is a way to disguise their voice so they can put it on. To do that, they’ll use AI to insert, maybe the sound of gunshots in the background to add legitimacy to the threat.” On October 4, 2025, the University of Nebraska Omaha was the target of a swatting call, Omaha police said. During the incident, 911 dispatchers reported they could “hear gunshots on the line.” KETV asked Harms if that could be an AI-formulated call. This was her response: “Absolutely, or I would say AI-enabled is what I would say.” “On top of that, you see the other technologies that, through voice-over internet protocols and things like that, are being used as a way to mask their identity. So it can be very challenging for law enforcement to identify the people behind these threats,” Harms said. AI or not, Captain Monty Lovelace of the Nebraska State Patrol said law enforcement will always be there. “The important thing is that we are still responding,” Lovelace said. “We don’t show complacency. The moment we become complacent in dealing with these whacking situations, the moment something real is going to happen.” Lovelace directs the Fusion Center at NSP headquarters in Lincoln. He said NCITE’s research is valuable and often helps them conduct investigations and share information with local and national partners. “They can use that information to come up with the best safety plan to handle this when situations like this arise,” Lovelace said. No matter how many swat calls occur, Lovelace said law enforcement will continue to protect people. “From a law enforcement perspective, we will continue to do everything we can to protect people and catch those who engage in this type of behavior and try to hurt others, whether it’s online or not,” Lovelace said. Lovelace said it’s also important to have open conversations with children and peers about what swatting is and what happens when you experience a swatting attack. He said it can help you quickly return to a normal day and routine. Harms said it’s essential to still follow safety protocols, even if you think a situation could be a blow. She said she’s also seen some areas starting to use AI to combat swatting.
In the autumn of 2025, a series of swatting attacks across the country mainly targeted universities. According to a local terrorism researcher, Doane University in Nebraska was one of them.
Officials said swatting is often used to disrupt communities and cause panic. Now researchers say the people committing the crime are using new technologies.
Senior researcher Mackenzie Harms of the National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology, and Education Center – or NCITE – said she began further researching swatting attacks in the fall of 2025 as part of a portfolio on the rising trend of nihilistic violent extremism.
“Many of the attacks that occurred on universities in the fall semester, approximately in August 2025, were all attributed to a group operating within that network,” Harms said. “Now we’ve looked at it more broadly because we see it as a tactic that’s used in many different areas. So it’s used as part of threats to government officials. It’s used as part of, you know, other online networks, how people get karma in the communities in which they operate.”
Harms said swatting is becoming an increasingly popular tactic because perpetrators often view it as low risk.
“Swatting has been around, and I would say they’ve been paying attention to it since about 2008. But I would say it’s become a more popular tactic in the last year or two,” Harms said. “Part of the swatting call and the reason it’s so attractive as a tactic is because it’s somewhat low risk. You don’t actually risk physical interception by law enforcement like you would with a physical attack, but you’re still able to cause an insane amount of impact and cost to the target of the swatting attack.”
One of the other reasons, Harms says, is that there are more tools available.
“A lot of these online communities share protocols. What technologies you can use to support this, scripts you can use, they identify targets,” Harms said.
One of those technologies is artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence.
“One of the biggest ways we’re seeing is AI-enabled voice,” Harms said. “So with AI, one of the things they do is a way to disguise their voice so they can put it on. To do that, they’ll use AI to insert, maybe the sound of gunshots in the background to add legitimacy to the threat.”
According to Omaha police, the University of Nebraska Omaha was the target of a swatting call on October 4, 2025. During the incident, 911 dispatchers reported they could “hear gunshots on the line.”
KETV asked Harms if that could be an AI-formulated call.
This was her response: “Absolutely, otherwise I would say AI-enabled is what I would say.”
“In addition, you see the other technologies that, voice over internet protocols and things like that, are used as a way to mask their identity. So it can be very challenging for law enforcement to identify the people behind these threats,” Harms said.
AI or not, Captain Monty Lovelace of the Nebraska State Patrol said law enforcement will always be there.
“The important thing is that we are still responding,” Lovelace said. “We don’t show complacency. The moment we become complacent in dealing with these whacking situations, the moment something real is going to happen.”
Lovelace directs the Fusion Center at NSP headquarters in Lincoln. He said NCITE’s research is valuable and often helps them conduct investigations and share information with local and national partners.
“They can use that information to come up with the best safety plan to handle this when situations like this arise,” Lovelace said.
No matter how many swat calls occur, Lovelace said law enforcement will continue to protect people.
“From a law enforcement perspective, we will continue to do everything we can to protect people and catch those who engage in this type of behavior and try to hurt others, whether it’s online or not,” Lovelace said.
Lovelace said it’s also important to have open conversations with children and peers about what swatting is and what happens when you experience a swatting attack.
He said it can help you quickly return to a normal day and routine.
Harms said it’s essential to still follow safety protocols, even if you think a situation could be a blow. She said she has also seen some areas starting to use AI to combat swatting.
