The Brief: Making a false report to emergency services, which results in police dispatch, or a SWAT team, being sent to the victim's address.
DEEP DIVE
Swatting is a prank that’s become popular among video gamers and has been making headlines recently after a Kansas man was shot and killed by police.
Victim of #Swatting: Police kills Innocent man after #CallofDuty gamer prank call |#Cybercrime #Gaming #Prank pic.twitter.com/7gtbqdDITs
— Rajesh Prajapati (@i_am______rp) December 30, 2017
It’s also brought up the discussion of police brutality and the use of excessive force. In particular, Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg found himself as the victim of swatting.
"Whoever swatted Hogg more than likely knew police could inadvertently shoot and possibly kill the teenage school shooting survivor or a member of his family." What does this say about the Police? Can we address that, vs. normalizing #Swatting?
— Eric Gockel (@egockel) June 6, 2018