A false report of a shooting in Cornelia turned out to be a swatting incident, police say.
On June 26, police officers responded to a residence on Sunshine Circle after a 911 caller reported he shot his brother.
“When officers responded, they found a teenage male in the apartment by himself playing a video game with other people from unknown locations,” Cornelia Police Chief Jonathan Roberts tells Now Habersham.
Officers cleared the apartment and verified that no one was shot or injured. When they interviewed the boy, he told them he was playing a video game and had won, and “that made the guy mad,” the Chief says.
“We had uniform patrol, CID, Cornelia Fire, Habersham EMS, and other law enforcement agencies respond to the call. All these resources responded to handle what turned out to be an argument over a video game.” – Cornelia Police Chief Jonathan Roberts
Once Habersham County Dispatch verified the call may have originated in Canada, police determined the boy had been swatted.
Police investigators are now working with the county dispatch center to try and determine who made that call. Roberts says it appears the call was made using a phone number cloning app.
Illegal and dangerous
Swatting occurs when someone dials 911 using a spoofed phone number or caller ID to falsely report a threatening crime. Law enforcement responds to the situation, not knowing it’s a bogus call. Whether it’s done as a prank or maliciously, swatting is illegal.
It’s also dangerous.
Not only do law officers respond under a heightened sense of alert, but the calls tie up valuable emergency resources.
“We had uniform patrol, CID, Cornelia Fire, Habersham EMS, and other law enforcement agencies respond to the call. All these resources responded to handle what turned out to be an argument over a video game,” Roberts says. “That’s a lot of resources tied up that are not available for actual emergencies.”
Given the nature of Monday’s call – that it was a murder-suicide – Cornelia police responded to the scene with no lights or sirens. They listened for noise from inside the apartment before beating on the door to gain access.
When the boy opened the door, Roberts says it was clear to officers he was not in distress.
No one was injured, and the situation was quickly resolved. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. There have been cases all over the country where swatting situations have turned out badly. In one such instance in 2019 in Ohio, a college gamer swatted someone, and it resulted in a deadly police shooting.
One call too many
Local law enforcement says they don’t field many swatting calls, but even one or two are too many.
Monday’s incident in Cornelia was at least the second time there’s been a mass emergency response to a swatting call in Habersham. In 2019, a 911 caller reported what was later determined to be a fake shooting incident on Raper Mountain on the north end of the county. The caller said he shot a family member and was wanting to harm himself.
Within minutes, first responders were en route. Two ambulances and paramedics waited in a staging area at the foot of the mountain as deputies suited up in armor. It was late. It was dark. And for all anyone knew at that point, it was a violent and volatile situation.
“We had AirLife in the air due to reports a child was possibly injured. Our units were committed between 30 and 45 minutes until the Sheriff’s Department gave the all the clear, and units returned to service,” then– Habersham County Emergency Services Director Chad Black told Now Habersham.
There was a med call and a structure fire call in Cornelia during the same timeframe – both real emergencies.
“This is a danger to the public, the responding [agencies], and even the occupants of the place where we respond for this type of call,” Habersham County Sheriff’s Lt. Matthew Wurtz said in 2019.
Everyone walked away unharmed from that call three-and-a-half years ago and the one this week, but that doesn’t discount the threat swatting poses.
“This is an extremely dangerous situation for everyone involved,” stresses Chief Roberts. “We are fortunate the officers responded quickly, making good judgment calls and getting unnecessary resources back in service as quickly as they did.”
Cornelia police are investigating the June 26 incident. However, Chief Roberts readily acknowledges swatting can be difficult to prove. Still, it is done. Swatters can and have been charged with felonies resulting in sometimes lengthy prison terms.
