Police say innocent man was shot after hoax call Swatting is something people have done since the invention of SWAT teams. Police always fall for these hoaxes, but usually no one dies. It's usually just a cheap way to get revenge on someone and the result is a search of the property by law enforcement.
Dangerous "Swatting" Prank Turns Deadly In Kansas I never thought of swatting as a "prank" at all. It's a tool for revenge and gets used fairly often. People just make an anonymous phone call and there you go.
Suspect arrested following deadly gaming prank The call was from California, but the house was in Kansas. Why didn't the 911 dispatcher figure out that there was an issue here?
Emergency in Another State? How to Get Help Right Away for Someone Far Away - If you are concerned about a loved one in another state, call the police department in the town where he or she lives and get the 10-digit number (7 digits + area code) to call in case of emergencies. If an emergency arises, call the 10-digit number instead of 911. It will connect you directly to the correct Public Service Answering Points (911 Centers). https://www.verywell.com/calling-911-for-someone-in-another-state-1298353
But even with a cell phone shouldn't 911 operators at least know where the nearest cell tower your calling from is located?
How 911 Finds You Do 911 Dispatchers See Where the Callers Are Located? - When obtaining the address verbally from the caller is not possible, the 911 Dispatcher will then utilize the cellular signal to triangulate the approximate location of the caller. https://www.verywell.com/911-dispatchers-caller-id-1298356
Obviously, the guy who called the hoax in should be put away for twenty or more years, but the police department is seriously at fault here also. I expect to see a massive lawsuit or large settlement out of this situation. No excuse for shooting the guy in this situation!
There have been several cases of swatting which I've heard about over the years. Most involve drug dealers in one way or another. However, an incident involving a video game isn't all that surprising. Usually a search warrant is obtained and the victim's house gets turned upside down. If illegal items are found an arrest is made. Otherwise, it's a major inconvenience. This is the first fatality I've heard of.
It would have taken such a tiny amount of effort for the 911 operator to verify where the phone call had originated. That would have made all the difference in the outcome of this situation. As for the officers, they seem to have been a bit trigger happy. They had a huge tactical advantage and did not need to shoot immediately as they very easily could have taken defensive positions which would have allowed them to confirm that the suspect had a gun before firing.
12-year-old YouTube gamer caught on camera as latest swatting victim Swatting makes no sense to me. I don't see how any one with any intelligence at all would do this sort of thing.
Multi-Agency Task Force Raid House To Arrest Someone Already In Jail, Shoot Woman In House Multiple Times Because Reasons This is one of the many reasons that people have such low confidence in law enforcement. Inexcusable lack of due diligence. The lawsuit here could be outrageous and hopefully a few of these morons are not just fired, but prosecuted!
You can already see one of the problems. The raid was conducted to arrest a person who was already in jail. That someone was shot during the raid is almost expected at this point, since law enforcement agencies regularly treat bog standard warrant service like a deployment on Omaha Beach in 1944.
These 'self-loathing miscreant losers' are endangering lives Incompetent law enforcement officers put lives in danger and are easily manipulated by assorted nutjobs as described in this video.