West Haven family target of 'swatting' prank twice in one month


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WEST HAVEN, Weber County — A West Haven family has become the victim of "swatting" for the second time in less than a month.

About 9:30 p.m. Thursday, 911 dispatchers in Weber County received a call from someone claiming to be a 15-year-old boy who said he had “shot his father, was holding his mother hostage and had sexually assaulted his sister," according to the sheriff's office. The caller also said the front door at the home was "rigged with explosives and he was going to shoot it out with the police when they arrived."

Three deputies arrived at the house near 4700 West and 3900 South very quickly. Weber County Sheriff's Lt. Lane Findlay said in addition to the fact that the call seemed a bit "over the top," deputies were quickly able to gather additional information that the unsuspecting family was the victim of a swatting call.

"By the time the first couple (of deputies) got set up and made contact on the phone and the father came out, it was determined rather quickly there was no emergency," he said. "There was a lot of information that came at us real quickly. Flags went up right out of the get-go. … It unfolded pretty fast."

The SWAT team was never called out.


"Swatting" is when someone calls emergency dispatchers to report a false crime, usually of an extremely violent nature, with the intent of getting a SWAT team to respond.

About the same time this was happening, dispatchers received a call from authorities in West Haven, Connecticut, reporting a similar situation, Findlay said.

"Swatting" is when someone calls emergency dispatchers to report a false crime, usually of an extremely violent nature, with the intent of getting a SWAT team to respond. The caller is able to manipulate computers and other technology to make it appear that the call is coming from a certain address, even though the caller may actually be in another state or even another country.

For the West Haven family targeted Thursday night, Findlay said it was the second time they have been swatted. The first incident occurred on March 23 when the family reported that someone had tried to hack into their computer.

The suspect in that incident threatened to "release their personal information. They were going to call the SWAT team out. Their dog was going to be shot. There were some pizzas ordered to the house under one of the family member's names," Findlay said.

Investigators believe the suspect may be someone from an online gaming group who the family's 15-year-old son was involved with. There was apparently some type of altercation online and then threats were made, Findlay said. The son and the suspect do not know each other, he said.

Findlay said swatting cases involve very complex and difficult investigations and detectives as of Friday knew very little about the suspect.

Because swatting typically involves police officers responding to what they believe is a potentially violent situation, it can become "a very dangerous situation," Findlay said.

"I commend our deputies on their discretion and processing what information they had … and preventing this from escalating and becoming even more dangerous," he said.

Contributing: Mike Anderson

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