Last week a hoax believed to have been perpetrated by an online gamer triggered a massive response by Long Beach, Nassau County and MTA police departments.
The police suspect that someone who had lost a round in the popular game “Call of Duty” called the police using the name and address of the Long Beach High School student and saying that he had killed his mother and brother.
Fifty heavily armed police officers, including the Nassau County SWAT team along with an armored vehicle and a helicopter unit, were sent to the scene. After a lengthy standoff police learned that only one in the house was a teen who couldn’t hear them because he had headphones on. His mother and brother who had not been killed returned home to find the house surrounded.
The FBI has been called in to help find the perpetrator of the hoax who used Skype to make his call. There is a possibility that the person’s identity will never be known. Online gaming is designed to be anonymous. It’s possible that the hoaxer lives outside the United States.
This kind of hoax where a loser takes revenge on his opponent is called “swatting.” It is estimated that the police response cost more than $100,000. In addition two police officers received minor injuries from a crash on the way to the scene.
Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice issued the following statement following the event:
“Incidents like this are a dangerous and outrageous waste of law enforcement resources and taxpayer dollars. Through a collaboration with our law enforcement partners, we will use every tool we have to track down whoever threatens public safety like this. ‘Swatting’ is a serious crime that endangers first responders and those in legitimate need of their help. We will hold any perpetrators accountable and seek restitution for the tax dollars wasted.”
We hope the punk is caught.
At the same time we think the NCPD should be giving thought to how it was played and how to reduce the chances that it will happen again. Was the level of response in this incident appropriate and necessary? Why 50 heavily armed officers? Why send a helicopter? Why didn’t the fact that the caller was using Skype set off alarms?
The protocols for sending out a SWAT team need to be reviewed.
