Swatting prank call made by 12-year-old sends large police presence to Santa Rosa home
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - A 12-year-old boy placed a chilling 911 call, telling dispatchers there had been a shooting involving his parents at their Santa Rosa apartment.
"A juvenile who said his mother had just shot his father in the head," said Santa Rosa police Sergeant Christopher Mahurin.
That led to a huge emergency response Tuesday night to a residence on South Boas Drive in the Bennett Valley neighborhood.
"We immediately started multiple officers there as well as fire unit and ambulance, just for medical," Mahurin said.
The boy hung up and couldn't be found. Within an hour, police contacted a woman who lived at the apartment. She had no idea why the police were there, but the officers took no chances.
"After two complete searches inside the building and the apartment, we realized there was no threat and that it all was fake," Mahurin said.
It was another case of "swatting," in which people call in fake emergencies, resulting in a large response by police, firefighters, and medics.
Police were able to research earlier suspicious calls and identify a suspect. He turned out to be a 12-year-old boy who picked the victims at random.
"Just a normal family that was living in the apartment and didn't seem to have any sort of relations to the 12-year-old who made the call," Mahurin said.
The family did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The boy was arrested for making a false report and released to his family. It's unclear what his motive was.
Police said hoax calls waste valuable resources.
"Even some of these calls we've gotten in the past, they do seem like they could be a 'swatting' call, we treat all of them as if they are true," Mahurin said.
Police across the Bay Area have responded to fake calls. Some of the victims have been tech executives.
Across the nation, people have gotten hurt and killed because of "swatting." In Wichita, Kansas, police shot and killed a victim of a prank.
"We are reminded that boys cry wolf. Now, in the 21st century, boys are crying wolf on zoom and on iPhones," said Professor Greg Woods of the San Jose State University's Department of Justice Studies, who has researched swatting incidents.
"I am convinced that this is a trend that we need to be aware of because it's happening more frequently, not only in Santa Rosa but throughout our state and nation," Woods said.