Teenage boy made ‘swatting’ calls to online gamers in 4 states, Georgia police say

A 15-year-old Georgia teenager was arrested after he was accused of making a prank call, or “swatting” call, that resulted in dozens of officers being sent to a home, police said.

Police received a call on March 19 from someone who said he had killed his mother and was about to kill his two sisters, and that he planned to kill any law enforcement officers who tried to intervene, according to a news release from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies headed to the alleged caller’s house and called for a SWAT team. When they arrived, a man who seemed “confused and alarmed” came outside. Officers called the man over and also asked for others inside the house to come outside. They realized they were responding to a swatting call and that there was no emergency, the release said.

“Over 30 officers from multiple locations responded to this call,” the release said.

Detectives with the sheriff’s office identified a 15-year-old suspect from Harlem, Georgia, who was arrested May 3 and charged with terroristic threats, transmitting a false emergency call, and misuse of 911, the release said.

Police suspect that the boy is also responsible for similar swatting calls in Windsor Lock, Connecticut; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Tampa, Florida, the release said. SWAT teams responded to two of the calls and “made forced entry” into the homes, the release said.

Police used a search warrant to seize the boy’s Sony PlayStation console, as well as two cellphones, the release said. Police said they heard audio of the 15-year-old making a swatting call in a Sony PlayStation “party chat,” where players can speak to one another during games.

“It is suspected the motivation behind the calls is related to online gaming disputes,” the sheriff’s office said in the news release.

Swatting, a practice largely associated with online gaming, is the act of calling emergency services in an attempt to get officers – in particular, SWAT teams – sent to someone’s home. Callers usually make severe allegations – for example, that the person they’re calling about is violent or has taken people hostage – to compel SWAT personnel to respond quickly without verifying the report first, according to Insider.

The practice, though rare, is a violation of federal law and has led to injuries and deaths, Insider reported.

In one high-profile instance, a 28-year-old Kansas man, Andrew Finch, was shot and killed by police when he stepped onto his porch to see why there were police lights outside his home, The Kansas City Star reported. Tyler Barriss, a 25-year-old Los Angeles man, was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison on a charge of making the swatting call.

Cherokee County is about 42 miles north of Atlanta.

This story was originally published May 6, 2022 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Teenage boy made ‘swatting’ calls to online gamers in 4 states, Georgia police say."