CALGARY- A terrible prank that’s been happening stateside has now hit Calgary.
‘Swatting’ is when someone calls 9-1-1 with a false story like a hostage taking, prompting police to send out the tactical or SWAT team.
It happened just a few weeks ago in the northwest, when police received a call that a child was being held hostage at gunpoint in a basement.
Dawn McInnes was busy cooking dinner inside, and had no idea what was happening just outside her front door.
“I had no idea what was happening.”
The entire neighbourhood was on lockdown, and police searched the entire McInnes home. Investigators soon discovered the whole thing was a prank, cooked up by a young man from Boston who was exacting revenge on a teenage girl living next door.
“People think it’s really funny to make these hoax calls,” says Kevin Brookwell from the Calgary Police Service.
He warns that phone calls are traceable.
“This is criminal code mischief. While you think it’s funny, ‘I’m gonna get back at a buddy and we’re gonna really scare them’…you could be facing some pretty serious charges.”
In the United States, those charges found guilty of ‘swatting’ face severe penalties, even jail time.
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