SWAT team bursts in on elderly Arlington man after false shooting report, police say
A phony report that a man had shot his parents inside of an Arlington home on Wednesday morning led a SWAT team to burst into the residence at the provided address, only to find an unsuspecting elderly man still in bed, police said.
Detectives determined the caller was actually trying to target a person across the street, an “avid gamer” with a large online following, the department said in an email on Thursday. Gamers are regularly the targets of “swatting,” or calling in a false report to cause an unnecessary law enforcement response, police said.
The department reportedly made contact with the elderly man inside the home, who was only startled. The caller has yet to be identified, police said.
A person can face charges of making a terroristic threat or false report for participating in “swatting,” according to police spokesperson Christoper Cook.
“Swatting can also pull resources from other legitimate calls to deal with these types of situations,” Cook said in an email.
Dispatchers received the call around 7 a.m. Wednesday from the man claiming he had shot his parents inside of a home in the 3500 block of Ruidoso Drive, police said. The caller stated he still had the gun on him, police said, and was refusing to put it down. He disconnected the phone as soon as he finished speaking.
Police deployed a large presence to the location along with SWAT and aviation teams due to the seriousness of the tip, the department said.
When the SWAT team forced their way into the home, police said, they made contact with an elderly man who lives there. They determined there had been no shooting and the call was fake.
The resident told KXAS-TV he heard a big noise before officers came into his room, and he wondered what they were doing there. He doesn’t blame police, according to the report.
“They came in to protect me,” the man told the news station.
Investigators are continuing to investigate the serious crime of making a false report, police said.
Incidents of swatting aren’t too common in Arlington, occurring about three to four times every year, Cook said.
