BATON ROUGE — LSU has issued a statement reminding people that swatting — false claims of violence that trigger emergency responses — is illegal after multiple campuses across the country reported instances of the practice over the past week.

"Submitting a false report is not a prank; it is dangerous, disruptive, and illegal. Let us maintain a safe community by staying prepared and reporting incidents responsibly," LSU wrote, prompting people to visit their website for guidelines about handling active shooter situations.

The Washington Post reports that the recent string of swatting began Thursday with a false report to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, quickly followed by one about Villanova University later that day.

Hoaxes at 10 more schools followed: the University of Arkansas; the University of Colorado at Boulder; Louisiana State University of Alexandria; Iowa State University; Kansas State University; the University of New Hampshire; Northern Arizona University; the University of South Carolina; the University of Tennessee; and West Virginia University. Villanova also received a second threat.

The FBI has begun investigating the string of incidents.