Cody High School receives bomb threat; police sweep building, declares threat a hoax

CODY (WNE)  — A threatening, A.I.-generated voicemail sent to Cody High School overnight was treated seriously by administrators, but it turned out to be a swatting hoax.

Park County District 6 Superintendent Vernon Orndorff said Wednesday that he was forwarded the voicemail at 7:05 a.m. by a staff member. 

In the message, a robotic voice claims to have planted bombs on site.

“If I find out that by the detonation time, which is 1 p.m., that they have been moved, I will come shoot every student in this school,” the voice said.

Orndorff and his staff immediately contacted the Cody Police Department and delayed the start of school while police swept the building.

A phone call sent to parents informed them of a two-hour delayed start to the school day due to the threat, and transportation was rerouted to hold students already en route at a secure location. 

Similarly, Orndorff said, students who walked or had already arrived by car were taken to a secure location away from the main building. Once resolved, students were released from the secure holding location.

CPD personnel swept the perimeter of the building as well as the hallways, CPD Lt. Juston Wead said. Teachers were told to contact law enforcement if they noticed anything out of place within their own classrooms.

“There’s kind of been a nationwide trend of this nature of A.I. generated messaging going to schools and making threats,” Wead said.

Both Cody High School and Middle School were previously victim to swatting in April 2023. Since then, CPD has continued following information about the rise of A.I. generated swatting calls to schools. 

Swatting first began in the early 2000s and involves making fraudulent 911 calls to cause emergency response teams to respond. 

This story was published on Jan. 29, 2026.