CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – University of Virginia chief of police Tim Longo said last week’s hoax reporting a shooter on the school’s Grounds showed how ready local law enforcement agencies are to respond to such an event and emphasized the crucial nature of interagency communication.

But the subsequent investigation into who placed the fake call has been a frustrating reminder of how difficult it can be to find and prosecute those who engage in a swatting hoax.

“I’m not very confident that, in situations like this, you’re always able to identify the source,” Longo told Cville Right Now on Wednesday. “My experience has been, there lots of times these calls come from overseas the numbers are spoofed, and you struggle to ever locate the source of the call. But we’re going to use every law-enforcement asset that we have at our disposal to try to accomplish that.”

Longo said the investigation into who called the emergency dispatch center on the afternoon of Nov. 3 and reported an active attacker, triggering a sizeable law enforcement response, is ongoing.

He said University Police are working with regional and federal partners in an attempt to identify the caller.

Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis, whose department also responded to the call, said technology is on the side of the investigators.

“With technology today, just like it’s very easy to make a call like that, there are different things from a technology standpoint that we use to investigate these types of cases,” Kochis told Cville Right Now. “I can tell you, at least in our region, between CPD, Albemarle County PD, UPD, we have some of the best in the business working these cases.”

Longo said the call had credible elements that demanded a full response from law enforcement, even as swatting calls – calling in fake emergencies to draw a police reaction – continue across the country.

“I will never assume something is a hoax,” Longo said. “Regardless of the widespread activity that we’re seeing around the nation, I can’t take that chance. It’s too high of a risk.”

Kochis and Longo both agreed that the Nov. 3 incident showed a level of readiness to respond had the report been accurate.

“We’re going to let our training kick in and do what we’re trained to do,” Kochis said. “And that is, enter a building immediately, identify a threat, deal with that threat and then start saving lives.”

Longo praised the collaboration that occurred between his department and the city and state police forces, though he did note that was aided by the fact that a number of senior officials from those departments happened to be at UVA that day for training.

“We had all the right people in the event that this became protracted,” Longo said. “All the important partners I needed there were there, and we could’ve very quickly went into a unified command.”

Longo said that police took about 90 minutes to search and clear Shannon Library and determine there was no threat to safety. Upon arriving at the scene, Longo said there was no evidence of an attack, but because of the size of the area, the call to terminate the alert required more time.

This was the first time in his six years as chief that Longo said UVA dealt with a hoax of this nature. But they have happened in the city and are not uncommon nationally.

While any report can strain law enforcement and first response resources and stress the public, both Longo and Kochis emphasized that citizens who have legitimate concerns should never hesitate to call the police.

“We don’t ever want to discourage folks from calling us and reporting what they see,” Kochis said. “Let us make that determination if it’s real or not.”

Longo echoed that sentiment.

“Let us do our job,” Longo said. “Just give us the information. Give it to us quickly. Give it to us thoroughly and give us as adequate and accurate a description, whether it be a set of circumstances that you’re seeing, a particular person, a particular location, a particular package – whatever the case may be, give us as much information as you possibly can and then just step back and let us to our job.”