DELTONA, Fla. – A fake 911 call led Volusia deputies to surround a Deltona home over the weekend. The sheriff called it a scary moment for homeowners and deputies in a trend called “swatting” that is becoming more and more common.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood said dispatchers received the call around 2 a.m. on Sunday. News 6 received a copy of the call which in part sounded like a teenage boy saying: “I had my dad’s gun and I think I killed my little brother.”
The caller then went on to say he would try to kill himself.
Chitwood said deputies got to the home on Fan Court to quickly find a family asleep and no one dead.
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“The deputies thank god are a great group of deputies and a great group of dispatchers that they can kind of discern the information,” said Chitwood. “Listening to the 911 call myself you kind of got the feeling that this wasn’t real so that kind of is good to know when you’re going in so you’re not going in hot at 1,000 miles per hour.”
The sheriff said his office strives to take a no-nonsense approach to these situations, but said they happen often to the point dispatchers and deputies can typically tell they’re fake before getting on the scene, such as in this case in Deltona.
Schools, judges, police chiefs, and innocent homeowners have all fallen victim to the rising prank.
Just last week, a teen was arrested in connection with a swatting call saying he would be shooting up a mosque in Sanford. The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said it turned out that one was fake, too, and the teen lives in California.
Now, Sen. Rick Scott, after falling victim himself, has introduced legislation that would increase the penalties to 20 years in prison for people who make these fake “swatting” calls.
“The swatting call is put in with the hopes that law enforcement will come in ramped up and someone innocent will be killed,” said Chitwood.
The sheriff said they often use apps, websites, and even video games to get an untraceable phone number.
He said increasing punishment against the caller will help but thinks more work needs to be done to crack down on the technology used to fake a phone number especially as it becomes harder to trace them.
“The problem is that technology is like milk - the minute you get a piece of technology that helps you, that technology expires, and the bad guy has already moved onto another level,” he said.
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