Prosper church evacuated after swatting threat, police find no danger

Prosper police said a threatening call that emptied Gateway Church’s Prosper campus on Sunday was a swatting incident, triggering a heavy emergency response to one of Collin County’s most visible worship sites. Officers, Prosper Fire Rescue and the McKinney Police Department secured the area on East Prosper Trail, searched the building floor by floor and later found no danger to the public.

The evacuation unfolded shortly after the 11 a.m. service began on April 26, 2026, according to the Town of Prosper. The church was safely cleared around 12:30 p.m., and officials said children were kept together and escorted to a back parking lot so they could be reunited with their parents. No injuries were reported.

Town officials said the building remained closed after the evacuation, and anyone who left belongings inside would have to return later to retrieve them. Prosper police said the call came from an unknown suspect and that investigators were still working to trace its origin. Officers did not release additional details about the source of the threat as the case remained active.

The incident underscored how quickly a false report can disrupt a crowded faith gathering and pull in multiple agencies. Prosper police and fire crews moved in with help from McKinney officers because the threat was treated as real until the search was complete. The response also drew attention because Gateway Church is a well-known North Texas institution with a large weekend turnout, making any threat there a public-safety issue as well as a criminal investigation.

Federal authorities define swatting as the malicious practice of making hoax calls or reports to emergency services while pretending there is an immediate threat to life, with the goal of drawing a large police response. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says those calls drain critical first responder resources away from actual emergencies and has published guidance specifically for faith communities. In a state where lawmakers passed an anti-swatting law in 2021, the Prosper case served as another example of how a false call can briefly turn a church service into an evacuation scene.