SWATTING: A DANGEROUS PRANK CONFRONTING COPS MORE AND MORE

SWATTING: A DANGEROUS PRANK CONFRONTING COPS MORE AND MORE

More and more pranksters are calling the cops to report SWAT operation-type crimes at the homes of unsuspecting people. Those operations are not only costly, but they are dangerous to both cops and occupants of the homes targeted.

The prank is known as swatting. In this instance, 70 cops, some with guns drawn, responded to the hoax call which is estimated to have cost the taxpayers around $100,000.

‘CALL OF DUTY’ LOSER CALLS IN SWAT TEAM HOAX ON KID WHO BEAT HIM
Police who arrived with a SWAT team at a Long Island house found out an ‘emergency call’ was a prank by a sore loser involved in the online video game Call of Duty

By Kenneth Garger, Bruce Golding and Natalie O'Neill

New York Post
April 22, 2014

Long Island police dispatched helicopters, emergency vehicles and an army of cops to a home where someone called in a bloody rampage on Tuesday.

They arrived with guns drawn and ready for war — only to find out the call to cops was an act of revenge by a gamer whom the teen who lives inside had just beaten in an online Call of Duty battle.

The prank caller told police over Skype that he was Rafael Castillo, 17, of Long Beach — and that “I just killed my mother and I might shoot more people,” cops said.

But Castillo was only using virtual firearms in the online video game.

“Some guy threatened to Swat him,” Castillo’s brother told The Post. “He was pissed that he had lost.”

The disgruntled gamer had just been eliminated by Castillo and gave police the teen’s home address in a dangerous game called “Swatting,” and the authorities went into full emergency mode.

In the two-hour standoff, authorities scrambled choppers over the house and rushed in more than 60 officers with weapons drawn — including elite members of Nassau County’s special operations unit.

Fire trucks also sped to the home on Laurelton Boulevard near West Fulton Street.

When cops got to the home, Castillo’s mother was in the kitchen and Rafael’s brother arrived home from lunch.

“I thought there was a fire at my house. I ran up and saw my mom running out, I didn’t know what was going on,” said the brother, Jose, 21.

“Then one of the police officers said somebody called and said that the mother and brother of somebody in this house was killed. I said, ‘How is that possible if she’s right there and I’m right here?’”

Cops tried for 20 minutes to call Rafael and get him to come out, but he had headphones on and was still glued to his video game console.

“He didn’t realize anything was going on, he couldn’t hear anything,” his brother said. “I told him that there’s a bunch of cops outside that are looking for you.”

He eventually came outside and the emergency services cops rushed in to make sure there was no reality to the phony call.

“I right away had an idea what it was, because I’ve seen [pranks] on the news,” said Jose Castillo.

Rafael, known as Rafi, is a junior at Long Beach High School and was at home playing video games because it was spring break.

The vicious gamer likely traced Castillo’s IP address online to find out where he lives, police sources said.

“It was probably just an evil little kid,” one officer said.

“We went and checked out the place and there was nothing there … It sucked up a lot of resources, caused traffic problems. It turned out to be a hoax,” the cop added.

Cops were trying to track down the hoaxer by tracing his electronic footprints, police sources said.

Long Beach Police Commissioner Michael Tangney said it’s just the latest example of the “Swatting” game.

“In this … bizarre world of Swatting, you get points for the helicopter, for the police cars, for the SWAT team, for the type of entry,” he told CBS. “It’s very sophisticated. Unfortunately, it’s very dangerous.”