A caller falsely reported a shooting in Bates County. Sheriff says it was ‘swatting’
The Bates County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a swatting call that falsely claimed a man fatally shot a woman in Butler, causing numerous law enforcement agencies to respond.
Deputies responded about 11:50 p.m. Sunday to a home on South Olive Street after someone who sounded like a juvenile called and claimed his father was shooting a rifle in the home and that his mother was dead, according to the sheriff’s office.
The caller told dispatchers he was hiding from his father, who he claimed was in the basement. He disconnected the call after saying his dad was about to find him, according to the sheriff’s office.
Members of multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Missouri State Highway Patrol, “converged” on the address provided by the caller and set up a perimeter. Ambulances were also called out to the area.
After negotiators spoke over a loud speaker, an elderly woman who appeared “very startled and confused” came to the door, the Bates County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Monday. There was no sign of a shooting there.
The sheriff’s office believes the call was “swatting” — when someone reports a fake emergency to prompt a SWAT team response.
Officers have killed bystanders while responding to swatting calls across the country in recent years.
In 2017, a Wichita police officer fatally shot a 28-year-old unarmed, unsuspecting man after a Los Angeles resident falsely reported a homicide and hostage situation at a home there.
Investigators determined the call Sunday may have come from the Pasadena, California, area using a program to “hide the identify and location of the caller,” the sheriff’s office said.
At the same time, officers were called to West Lee Street where someone reported they heard a gunshot nearby, according to the sheriff’s office. Officers found no sign of a shooting there.
Sheriff Chad Anderson called swatting calls “dangerous and completely unacceptable.” If law enforcement can identify the caller, he said, they will pursue charges against the person “no matter what state they are from.”
“The resources that were utilized and manpower directed away from other duties/calls for service can and do often get people hurt or killed,” Anderson said in a statement.
