Puyallup police say a hoax 911 call brought them to the door of a residence Tuesday night after the caller told dispatchers he had shot someone and was planning to shoot himself.
When dispatchers reached someone by phone who inside the home where the reported shooting had taken place, a woman said there hadn't been any problems that night.
But another fact came to mind that explained what happened. Her son is a streamer on Twitch, a livestreaming service that focuses on video games. Someone had recently accessed his account information, getting his address, phone number and credit card information.
The residents had been a victim of "swatting," a dangerous prank call where someone calls 911 to try to elicit a large armed police response to a particular address. The incidents often target high-profile internet users or video game streamers, but many others have been victims, including celebrities, tech executives, journalists and government officials.
The Puyallup Police Department shared audio of the hoaxer calling 911, sounding distressed and stuttering.
"I just shot her," the 911 caller said. The dispatcher asked for an address several times, which he eventually gave.
"Did you do this on purpose?" the dispatcher asked.
"No on accident, but I think I'm going to shoot myself because I don't know what to do," the caller said.
Capt. Ryan Portmann said an actual SWAT team wasn't dispatched, but police responded about 11:17 p.m. to the home in the 300 block of 12th Street Northwest for a shots fired call.
"Fortunate for us, dispatch was kind of on it," Portmann said. "They made a call inside the residence. They couldn't get a hold of the number that originally called, so they called inside the residence and talked to the mom. Mom said 'hey, everything's okay.'"
Police still went to the residence and determined the incident was a hoax. Officers interviewed the woman and her two adult sons.
The Twitch streamer told police that his online account was sold to someone without his permission last year. The profile contained sensitive personal information. Portmann said the Twitch streamer had called police several years ago to say he was concerned about "swatting" and that it could happen to him.
The incidents can lead to dangerous interactions between police and victims of the hoax calls. In 2017, a "swatting" call to an address in Wichita, Kansas led to police shooting and killing a 28-year-old man.
"We don't know what we're going to," Portmann said. "We think we're going to a shots fired call. We have to knock on the neighbor's home at 11:30 at night. The neighbor goes 'who's knocking at my home at 11:30 at night' and comes down with a gun and answers the front door with a gun. That could be obviously very dangerous for police and the homeowner."
Portmann said police would attempt to identify the 911 caller, but he said the ability to spoof a phone number can make it difficult to track. Plus, the caller may not even be from the U.S.
The Seattle Police Department tackled the issue of "swatting" in 2018, creating a registry where people can sign up to let police know their address and that they have concerns about being a target. Police would still respond to 911 calls, but the additional information can be shared with responding officers.
