Hempfield Township Family Targeted By 'Swatting' Hoax
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) - A local family was ordered out of their home at gunpoint by SWAT. Police were called there for a shooting, but it turns out there was no shooting. No crime at all. The family was a victim of a hoax called swatting.
"There are other families out there and they're probably thinking this can't happen to them but it can and it did, it did to us," said Eric Altman.
Altman says he and his family are doing better but they're still angry by what he calls a sick joke, one he says he'll never forget.
He says it was around 7 a.m. Thursday when there was a loud knock at the front door. He says when he rolled out of bed in his Hempfield Township home, he was shocked when he got a look at who was visiting.
"I opened my bedroom window and I saw several state troopers with high-powered rifles aimed at me," he said.
The troopers responded to the home after 911 got a frightening call.
"Apparently, someone called them reporting shots fired in the house," Altman said.
Police removed Altman, his wife and his teenage son from the home while officers gave it the once over. Later, after realizing nothing was wrong, Altman says troopers told them "someone pulled what's called swatting."
Swatting is when someone uses software or an app to make a hoax call to 911 and report an active violent crime using a legitimate phone number. The number of the home where the alleged emergency is happening is all dispatchers see and it's assumed the emergency is real until police get there.
"It's a result of the gaming community, the online gaming community. Tempers flare in chat rooms, they yell and fight with each other," said Altman.
Altman's son is an online gamer and he suspects someone wasn't happy with him.
"It's either an act of revenge, someone looking to play a prank, or someone doesn't like your content on YouTube," said Altman.
Fortunately for Eric and his family, this all ended relatively peacefully but there have been incidents where individuals have been swatted across the country with deadly results.
In 2017, police in Wichita, Kansas accidentally shot and killed a man who was the victim of a swatting hoax. The FBI estimates there are about 400 swatting cases nationwide, every year.
As for the Altmans, they're thankful their swatting incident wasn't worse than it was.
"We're not angry at the police at all. I'm grateful they used restraint and patience," Altman said.
Investigators say the person who did this to the Altmans used a burner phone and will likely never be known.
"It could happen to anybody, anytime, anywhere. There's no way of stopping it unless they catch the person responsible," said Altman.
Altman says if you're a gamer or the like, watch what information you share. And he says he now's worried it could happen again.