Paso Robles police respond to report of active shooter at hotel — but it was a statewide hoax

Paso Robles police responded to reports of an active shooter at a local hotel on Wednesday — only to find the call appeared to be part of a statewide hoax.

According to a news release, the department received a call at approximately 2:39 p.m. warning of an active shooter at the Allegretto Vineyard Resort at 2700 Buena Vista Drive.

Police said the call appeared to originate from a phone number based out of New Mexico, and information received about the threat did not seem legitimate.

Officers immediately responded to the hotel to ensure there was no active threat in the area and were able to quickly determine “there was no threat and the business and surrounding areas were safe and secure.”

Soon after, the department said it received information from other California agencies warning of hoax “swatting” calls throughout California, including in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, Los Gatos, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Pismo Beach and other jurisdictions.

All of the “swatting” calls were the same and claimed hotels or resorts in the jurisdictions were being attacked by an active shooter, according to the release.

All of these calls were determined to be hoaxes and there were no credible threats in any jurisdiction, police said.

The Paso Robles Police Department is requesting anyone with information regarding the incident to call the department immediately at 805-237-6464.

Kaytlyn Leslie

The Tribune

805-781-7928 (voicemails only)

Kaytlyn Leslie writes about business and development for The San Luis Obispo Tribune. Hailing from Nipomo, she also covers city governments and happenings in San Luis Obispo. She joined The Tribune in 2013 after graduating from Cal Poly with her journalism degree.