Police SWAT teams captured another Counter-Strike player in a swatting hoax, only this call disrupted an entire office park.
With video game livestreaming becoming more and more popular, so too sadly, does the tendency to prank streamers. That’s why barely a month after a police SWAT team was called in for a Counter-Strike player, someone decided to get their jollies by pulling an identical “joke” on Kootra from streaming group The Creatures. Unlike the previous story however, Kootra’s camera was left running for the entire unnecessary takedown, showing just how scary swatting calls can be.
In response to a 911 distress call, Littleton, Colorado’s police force rushed a SWAT unit into an office complex where shots were reported to be fired. “The caller stated that he had just shot multiple people,” said Littleton police chief Doug Stephens. The SWAT response also prompted security precautions like clearly surrounding offices and putting nearby schools on alert.
Of course, no real-world shooting had ever occurred. Instead, the gaming group The Creatures were using the space to stream their Counter-Strike session. In the video, Kootra even hears the police sweeping the facility, and rightly states that he’s about to be swatted.
Police detained a few of the players, who were cooperative with the investigation. Naturally, no arrests were made. “There’s a somewhat, not really common, prank that happens,” said Daniel Gidlow, a member of The Creatures. “While we’re live streaming to thousands of people, somebody calls the cops.”
While no one was hurt, police are attempting to use federal resources to track and prosecute whoever made the hoax call in the first place. While some may consider that excessive, note that this is already the third swatting case we’ve reported on this year, and it can have actual consequences for real people. It wastes tax dollars and public resources that are reserved for real emergencies, and that’s not even getting into the disaster this could have become.
“This is not an online game,” Stephens said. “We have real guns, real bullets and there is a potential there for some tragedy.”
Source: FOX 31
Published: Aug 29, 2014 06:10 pm