At 5:20 p.m. local time, the Ford Kansas City Assembly plant’s safety and risk management team got a call from a man claiming to be a disgruntled employee who had barricaded himself in a second-floor bathroom with explosives, a rifle, and a handgun. This morning, one person was taken into custody for what turned out to be a hoax.
While the call fortunately wound up being what police say may have been an instance of “swatting,” in which people call armed police to a location on false grounds, a variety of enforcement agencies worked late into the night before that became clear.
The call came from a man who identified as an employee that Ford’s records show don’t exist, but he did name a real shift manager as part of the call, making it credible enough for the Clay County Sheriff’s Office to treat it as a “real and active threat.”
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In order to search the massive facility, the county sheriff’s office was joined the Claycomo Police Department and the FBI, reports KMBC News. By 10:15 p.m., officers said they had searched the supposedly barricaded bathroom, and had not found anyone.
However, it took until 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 19, before agencies were comfortable declaring that no one was in the building, and that the call had been a “hoax.” Although it was a blessing that no one was injured, Clay County Sheriff Will Akin said that the event had “created a huge strain on law enforcement.”
In addition, Ford ceased all production, and canceled the night shift at the plant that employs 7,250 people. Workers at the plant that makes the Ford E-Transit, Transit, and F-150, called the incident scary. The FBI described swatting as a criminal event that can have real consequences.
Indeed, as part of an announcement this morning, Sheriff Akin said that one person had been taken into custody in connection with the incident, though they have not yet been publicly identified. It said it would work with Kansas City and Claycomo police, as well as the FBI and prosecutors, in considering appropriate charges in this case.
