Carmel High School Shuts Down After Threat Received, Investigation Ongoing

Carmel High School Closes Due to Threat

On Tuesday January 27th, 2026, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office announced on social media that a local high school would be closed.

The closure was unrelated to the snow delays and closings in the surrounding areas.

In the social media post The Putnam County Sheriff's Office explained that they were investigating "a threat involving Carmel High School that was received via phone."

At the time, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office believed there wasn't a credible threat. However, "out of an abundance of caution," Carmel High School closed for Tuesday, January 27th.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office added:

Local Police Clear Carmel High School After Phone Threat

The original message from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office was posted around 10:00 am on Tuesday morning.

Shortly after the initial information was released, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office shared an update about the threat to Carmel High School.

At 11:19 am they shared that local Police had cleared Carmel High School. The Sheriff's Office added once again  "There is no credible threat to the school or the public at this time."

According to the post the Putnam County Sheriff's Office will "continue to conduct an investigation into the reported threat."

What Is A Swatting Call?

While we still haven't received any additional information about what was said in the call to Carmel High School, the situation sounds similar to a Swatting Call.

Unfortunately, several schools in the region have dealt with Swatting Calls in the past. Swatting is when a fake emergency call, like an active shooter or bomb threat, is called into a school to created a large police presence in the area.

These calls are meant to cause mass panic and chaos.

According to security website omnilert.com, in 2023 swatting cost K-12 schools "more than $82.3M." That stat does not include "additional costs such as missed class time, missed work for parents and physical damages" which they say could bring the number to "hundreds of millions."