Video gamers beware. A new prank called "swatting" can result in a dangerous encounter with a heavily-armed SWAT team. A gamer in Colorado, recently, experienced such an event and captured it on a Twitch game stream.
Jordan Mahewson, from Littleton, Colorado, was playing first-person shooter game Counter-Strike, when a Swat team raided his office after getting reports that an active shooter was on the premises. Mahewson recorded the entire incident on his Twitch game stream.
However, there was no shooter, only a false report called in stating that Mahewson had shot two co-workers and was holding others hostage. The call was a hoax, part of a prank called "swatting," where rival video gamers use a smartphone or tablet to make an anonymous call to 9-1-1 and report fake shootings and incidents.
In the past, swatting happened often to celebrities. However, video gamers have picked it up as a way to get revenge against someone who slighted them online.
Not only is swatting stupid, but it's also dangerous. Mahewson was lucky. He remained calm when the SWAT team arrived and took the situation in stride. That incident, however, also resulted in the lockdown of several schools and businesses in the area.
No one was hurt in this incident, but it's only a matter of time before someone is.
"The FBI looks at these crimes as a public safety issue," says Kevin Kolbye, an assistant special agent in charge the FBI's Dallas Division. "It's only a matter of time before somebody gets seriously injured as a result of one of these incidents."
The FBI states that a few swatting incidents have almost resulted in tragedy. A car accident recently occurred after a police officer responded to a swatting call. Several victims of swatting have also suffered mild heart attacks from the shock of suddenly having armed SWAT teams arrive at their houses.
Making a false report in and of itself is a crime and can result in federal charges. It costs taxpayers money because law enforcement must take each call seriously. It's also a waste of law enforcement's time and resources.
Swatting incidents happen when a "swatter" hacks someone's social media and uses that to place a call to 9-1-1, making it seem as if the call is coming from the victim. The FBI urges that people are careful when they're online and if they receive threats of swatting, call law enforcement immediately.
The FBI are currently investigating the incident in Littleton.
