There’s hardly anything scarier than school shootings, so last week’s hoax affecting schools in Ilwaco and elsewhere in the region sent adrenaline pumping in police stations, classrooms, homes and newsrooms.

We first heard of the threat from our dedicated north county correspondent Jeff Clemens, who constantly monitors 911 dispatch and who was called upon to provide volunteer emergency backup since most Raymond officers had been sent to help in Ilwaco.

I contacted our south county staffers, who began working on news coverage, getting direct information from Ocean Beach Superintendent Amy Huntley. I went down to the school to get a better sense of what was going on, and we coordinated coverage by cell phone as it became increasingly apparent that it was a fraudulent alarm. Reporter Brandon Cline published an immediate report on our Facebook page and then constantly updated our story at chinookobserver.com.

The hoaxster committed a contemptible act that put lives at risk by diverting law enforcement away from their regular important work, sending them rushing to Ilwaco. This wasn’t a first for this kind of dangerous societal vandalism. In April 2015, Long Beach Elementary received an anonymous call using technology to hide both the voice and the phone number, generating a strong police response. A similar incident happened in February 2016, prompting law officers to evacuate Ocean Beach School District students, following a lockdown that was initiated in response to a phone threat.

This type of hoax is particularly heinous considering we live in a time when literally any school — and all other American settings — may genuinely become the target of deadly violence. Each of these malicious incidents should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

It’s also worth remembering that such harmful and disruptive threats aren’t a purely 21st century phenomenon. In 1980 and 1981, for example, there were a spate of bomb threats against Ilwaco High School — and, in one instance, Sid’s Market. An adolescent girl was eventually arrested and convicted in one case.

Whereas such actions might once have sprung from as simple a motive as getting out of a math quiz, today’s nightmarish shooting threats are harder to understand. Hunger for attention? Radical or anarchical fantasies? Anger at normative society? Some kind of twisted competition to see who can cause the worst disruption? A diversion so some other crime can be committed amidst the turmoil?

Such incidents bolster the need to consider countermeasures, such as assigned campus police and gunshot-listening devices that can quickly tell real threats from pretend ones.

We’re living in a strange time, one which can sometimes even intrude into our usually pleasant communities. We always prefer covering positive news, but we’re on the job for our readers under every circumstance and scenario. Thank you for your support.