17-Year-Old from Maryland Facing Charges for 3 Hoax Swatting Calls in PSL
Port St.Lucie, Fl (treasurecoast.com)- The Port St Lucie Police have reported that a 17-year-old from Maryland is facing charges for 3 Hoax Swatting Calls in PSL.
What is a Hoax Swatting Call? Swatting is a crime. For those unfamiliar with the term, swatting is the act of creating a hoax 911 call typically involving hostages, gunfire, or other acts of extreme violence, with the goal of diverting emergency public safety resources to an unsuspecting person’s residence.
Here is what happened:
During the month of November, PSLPD responded to a residence in the 2200-BLK of SW Marshfield Ct on three different occasions for 911 calls regarding reports of violent crimes involving a firearm. These calls generated a large law enforcement presence and utilized a lot of police resources. Officers were able to determine the calls were hoax swatting incidents and the unsuspecting occupants of the residence were not involved.
PSLPD Criminal Investigations Division Detectives pursued all investigative leads and through a joint investigation with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, identified a 17-year-old suspect who resides in Maryland as the person responsible for making the hoax swatting calls.
The suspect made the swatting calls because of an online dispute with another juvenile who he thought lived at the Port St. Lucie residence.
The suspect is now in custody and will be facing charges in Maryland.
Swatting calls are very serious and are not considered a prank. Detectives will continue to thoroughly investigate the origin of all swatting calls and will arrest any suspects responsible as these incidents are illegal and very dangerous for our officers and residents.
Beside the resources imagine being the poor people it happened to!
