Sixty Police And Emergency Responders, Guns Drawn, Respond To What Was A Hoax
They arrived at Long Beach, NY home ready for a shootout and hostage crisis, in what turned out to to be a revenge prank against a video game fan.
The call about terror on Laurelton Boulevard appeared to be a prank against a teenage occupant who had eliminated another player in the popular video game called Call of Duty, which enables many people to play from across the country, Long Beach police said.
The video game player, 17, had taken out an opponent shortly before a call to Long Beach City police, in which the caller said he had killed his mother and brother, Long Beach Police Commissioner Michael Tangney said.
Officers, from Long Beach to Nassau police SWAT units, arrived with guns drawn in a 90-minute drama that alarmed the teenager and his mother, both home at the time, and nearby residents blocked from their homes.
“It’s what’s called a swatting incident,” Tangney said of the growing prank trend to get a major police presence. “This is really becoming a national epidemic for law enforcement.”…
Tangney said the eliminated player is a potential suspect, and could be charged with falsely reporting an incident and also be billed for an operation that cost about $100,000 in taxpayer money.
