COLUMBUS, Ind. – The Columbus Police Department (CPD) responded to a false report of a shooting on Wednesday night. This intentional false report is often called “swatting” and is becoming more common. It is dangerous, exhausts public safety resources, and is a crime.
“Swatting” is when someone calls for emergency services and makes a false report of an emergency in hopes of generating a large public safety response. Commonly, the caller is not in the same city or even state as the location they are calling about and makes the call to harass the residents living there.
The large police response these calls generate is dangerous. The calls are also a waste of resources. While officers act on the information they received from the caller, the unsuspecting resident may not know the police are responding and believe someone is trying to break into their home. When police respond to a false report, they are taken away from conducting other duties.
At around 11:30 p.m. on June 19, CPD officers were dispatched to a home in the 1700 block of South Drive after a male called saying he had just shot his family and that he was going to kill himself. Officers arrived, established a perimeter, and established contact with the people inside the home. Officers determined the caller, not the property owner, had made a false report.
The investigation is still ongoing, but CPD investigators believe the suspect called as retaliation against a juvenile resident they had been communicating with online. The suspect is not believed to be in Indiana.
In the early morning hours of June 20, CPD received a bomb threat against Columbus Regional Hospital (CRH) that referenced the address on South Drive and is thought to be connected to the first call. Still, the CRH Police Department called in additional resources and ensured the report was false.
False reporting of a crime is a Misdemeanor and can carry a 180-day sentence. Falsely reporting an explosive device in a building is a Level 6 Felony with a sentence of up to two-and-a-half years.
Authorities encourage all parents to speak to their children about internet safety and open those lines of communication. Here are some tips on internet safety to prevent future calls of this type:
- Install parental controls on electronic devices
- Set time limits on device usage
- Turn off “location” services on all nonessential apps
- Know who your child is talking to online
- Teach children not to speak with or share personal information with anyone they don’t know
