No runoff elections in special AL primaries

The winner of a special-called primary for Alabama’s congressional and State Senate races would take all without a runoff, according to two proposals introduced on the first day of the state’s surprise special session.

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Five Threatening Calls. Two Counties. Zero Real Emergencies.

A frightening pattern is emerging across the Gulf Coast — and law enforcement in both Mobile and Baldwin counties wants the public to know they're taking it seriously.

It started Saturday morning in Mobile. Springhill Medical Center received a threatening phone call around nine-thirty a.m. Hospital officials immediately activated safety protocols and went into lockdown. Mobile Police were called to the scene and remained on site while the situation played out. It never escalated to an active incident — patient care continued, and normal operations have since resumed. But here's what Springhill officials also confirmed: a second Mobile-area hospital received a similar threatening call around the same time. Both cases are now under investigation by Mobile Police.

Then Sunday night, the threats moved into Baldwin County. Fairhope Police say the city's iconic pier was the target of a bomb threat — and it wasn't a real one. It was a swatting call. Swatting is when someone dials 911 or contacts law enforcement directly and fabricates a violent or dangerous crime in progress. The goal is to trigger a massive police response. It ties up officers, pulls resources away from the rest of the county, and puts real strain on emergency services — all for a call that turns out to be completely false.

The Fairhope pier call was the third swatting incident in Baldwin County in less than a week. Before that, Summerdale was hit twice — once with a fake hostage situation, and once with a bomb threat. None of them were real. But the response to each one was very real.

Baldwin County Sheriff Anthony Lowery says swatting is not a new problem. The FBI launched a national swatting database back in 2023 to help track these crimes. That same year, a swatting call sent officers swarming Robertsdale High School searching for a gunman, and students and staff were evacuated from Daphne Middle School after a fake bomb threat. Suspects in both of those cases were tracked down — not locally. They came from California and New York.

Sheriff Lowery says that's the nature of this crime. It has no borders. The person making the call could be sitting in another state, another country — or halfway around the world.

But make no mistake — if they're caught, the consequences are severe. Convictions can bring fines, jail time, and in cases where someone is injured or killed as a result of the response, a sentence of life in prison.

Mobile Police are asking anyone with information on the hospital threats to come forward and contact them directly.