Taunton Police Investigating ‘Swatting’ Case After Hoax 911 Name

Taunton Police are investigating after a hoax 911 name drew a big police and legislation enforcement presence and had neighbors evacuated from their houses.

In line with Chief Edward J. Walsh, Taunton Police obtained a 911 name at 3:11 p.m. this afternoon “from a VoIP (voice over Web Protocol) cellphone wherein a male caller informed dispatchers he had murdered his girlfriend and was desiring to then hurt himself at a house on Williams Avenue.”

A number of police, fireplace and EMS models responded to the scene together with mutual support from different departments and the Southeastern Massachusetts Regulation Enforcement Council (SEMLEC) SWAT staff and educated police negotiators.

4 neighboring houses have been additionally evacuated as a precaution.

When police arrived, although, they discovered no person on the dwelling. They have been capable of contact the precise resident of the tackle, who police say was in one other metropolis on the time and “reported that he was unaware of something out of the strange occurring at his dwelling,” in response to police. It was then decided that the 911 name was a hoax, and after making a sweep of the world, residents have been allowed to return to their houses. The scene was cleared by 5:30 p.m.

Police stated it seems that this can be a case of “swatting,” wherein a prank name is made to emergency companies, making an attempt to attract a lot of armed law enforcement officials to a selected tackle. In line with Taunton Police, it has been acknowledged as a prison phenomenon by the FBI since not less than 2008.

“Swatting is a particularly harmful follow that misallocates and ties up important police and emergency assets, pulling them away from the place they could be wanted to assist in an actual emergency,” Chief Walsh stated.

The hoax name stays beneath investigation.