Call of Duty: Innocent shot in SWATTING [Update]

In Wichita, Kansas, an innocent man was shot by a police officer. The cause was reportedly a so-called SWATTING incident triggered by a dispute over a $2 bet in Call of Duty.

The “Wichita Eagle” reports on a horrific incident. A 28-year-old man was shot by a police officer on Thursday night. The police were responding to a call that there had been a murder at the address followed by a hostage situation. The call turned out to be false.

Police responded to murder with hostage situation

The deputy police chief stated that the officers were responding to a call. The call said that there was a dispute between a mother and a person that escalated and the father had been accidentally shot. The person in question was now holding the mother, sister, and brother hostage. The father died from a gunshot wound to the head.

These were the details based on which the police proceeded.

When the police arrived and set up for a hostage situation, a man came to the front door. An officer fired his weapon at him. The man was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The call was found to be false: the police are now investigating this. They have a lot of information to evaluate.

No further details are currently available.

Dispute over $2 bet in Call of Duty leads to SWATTING

Meanwhile, there are indications from the Call of Duty community that this false call may be a case of “SWATTING.” However, this has not yet been confirmed by the police.

A professional Call of Duty player summarized the situation in a tweet.

Apparently, two players got into a dispute over a $2 bet on a Call of Duty match, and the argument escalated until they threatened each other with SWATTING.

Then one of them sent a false address nearby to a known “SWATTER” that he received from the other as a provocation, and the disaster unfolded.

The police will later provide an update on their investigation. According to reports from the Call of Duty site Dexerto, the affected players have deleted their Twitter accounts.

“SWATTING” refers to exactly such false calls as in this case. The police are supposed to act aggressively and harshly against the individual who is to be “swatted”. They are misled into believing there is a critical life-and-death situation. This is complete madness, as this SWATTING indeed conjures a life-and-death situation.

25-year-old man arrested – video of the incident and the 911 call released

Update 30.12. 11:10:

• The Wichita police have released the 911 emergency call that later turned out to be a false call based on which the police acted. The caller claimed he had accidentally shot his father, was now holding his family hostage, and was considering dousing the house with gasoline and lighting it on fire. He appeared confused and detached.

• Additionally, authorities have released a video of the incident from the perspective of the police officers – it was recorded with a “body camera.” Here you can watch the video on the Wichita Eagle’s site in English.
• Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Police Department has arrested a 25-year-old man who is believed to be connected to the SWATTING in Wichita. He was arrested on Friday afternoon US time. The 25-year-old suspect is believed to have been involved in similar crimes in the past. This is the known SWATTER in the Call of Duty scene that people immediately held responsible.

More on the topic:

German court convicts swatting – first offender sentenced to years in prison