Rochester man victim of swatting incident in Southwest Rochester
Oct. 19—A 44-year-old Rochester man's Southwest Rochester home was the target of a "swatting" incident Monday night.
Rochester police received a call about 10:20 p.m. that a man in the 3500 block of Birchwood Lane Southwest had shot his uncle. The caller reported that his uncle was not breathing. The caller also said he had an AR 15-style rifle and would shoot police if they showed up, according to Rochester police Capt. Casey Moilanen.
Officers responded to the residence and set up a perimeter before attempting to make contact with the people inside. Multiple attempts were made to contact the residents, including calling the person's phone, but the attempts were initially unsuccessful. Police were eventually able to make contact with the person by using a loudspeaker.
The 44-year-old man, who was the only person in the home, left the house and allowed officers to search the residence. Nothing was found.
Police were able to determine that the call came from an IP address in Australia. It is believed that the call could have been over video game disputes involving the man's nephew and players the nephew may have upset in the past, according to Moilanen.
The incident is under investigation.
Swatting is an incident in which someone places a call to 911, claiming a serious incident that warrants a large police response is occurring or has just occurred. The calls typically bring a large police response and can sometimes prove fatal.
Cases of swatting are often difficult to track down because the caller typically masks their phone number when calling emergency responders.
