The FBI has joined the investigation into Saturday night’s incident in the village of Penn Yan that resulted in a heavy police response to the Hampton Inn as well as the evacuation of the hotel.
Police responded at around 6:40 Saturday night after a telephone call came in through the Penn Yan Police Department’s main non-emergency number that claimed there was an active shooter situation on the first floor of the Hotel with at least 25 victims.
According to Penn Yan Police Chief Thomas Dunham, the caller had a heavy foreign accent and gave the Hampton Inn’s main phone number as the number he was calling from. An officer who was nearby was on the scene within seconds and was able to determine there was no active shooter. Penn Yan Police, the Yates County Sheriff’s Office, and State Police escorted guests to the conference room of the Seasons on Keuka Lake while they cleared the hotel room-by-room.
At this time, it looks like the call came from outside of the U.S. and is being investigated as a swatting incident, which is the act of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.
Chief Dunham thanked the staff and guests of the Hampton for their cooperation in the investigation.
The New York State DEC also responded to the scene and assisted in the investigation.
