Callers from outside of Canada could be responsible for multiple cases of “swatting” near Hamilton this week, police in Ontario say.
The first of three incidents happened on Tuesday shortly after 8 p.m., when the OPP says officers responded to a bomb threat at a home on Haldimand Road 53 near Jarvis, approximately 50 kilometres southwest of Hamilton.
Then on Wednesday, officers were called to a school in the area after receiving a similar threat.
The school was put on a lockdown as a precaution, but police say both calls were “false,” and there were no actual emergencies.
Another emergency call came in on Thursday to report a “family dispute” in the area of the first call on Tuesday.
The OPP says the calls are coming “from a remote location outside of Canada using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology,” and are all being made by the same suspect or suspects.
Police say the fake emergency calls are cases of “swatting” – prank calls that can lead police and emergency services to an address and tie up first responders from attending actual life-threatening incidents.
In 2019, Ohio video gamer Casey Viner was sentenced to 15 months in prison following the death of Andrew Finch, a 28-year-old man who was shot by police during a swatting incident.
Making a false emergency isn’t just a crime, but can have “serious consequences,” police say.
“Emergency Call Fraud has serious consequences,” the OPP said in a release. “Once a false emergency call is placed to 9-1-1, resources that respond to a false emergency situation are no longer available to respond to an actual emergency.”
Anyone with information about this incident can contact the OPP by calling 1-888-310-1122. Anonymous tips may also be provided to Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-8477 or visiting www.ontariocrimestoppers.ca.
When you contact Crime Stoppers you stay anonymous, never have to testify, and could receive a $2,000 reward.