sadly, this is what violent games do to people. Some reason most of these swatting stories when it involves games is almost always about call of duty. One or two have been about battlefield...but never see a story that someone swatted in planetside 2 or most other FPS games.
Never see a news story where someone saw a boob online and then went out and shot a bunch of people or swatted someone.
If someone has mental issues and they play a violent game, they are far more likely to actually get WORSE and commit a criminal act. Those people should not be allowed to play video games unless they take medication for their illness. Sadly though a lot of people with mental illnesses don't get proper treatment...they retreat to the gaming world where they are then exposed to violence.
In this case, the guy was playing call of duty, swatted many times before...someone somewhere should have said "violent games are making him worse, he should be monitored to make sure he doesnt play these games"
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
Speaking of such how did the dispatcher not know that it could have been a prank call, did they not check the cell towers location which the phone was coming from obviously the person who was arrested was stupid enough not to mask his identity through multiple VPN / Usage of Skype for example, but used their own cell-phone did they not check where he was calling from vs where the other person house was located at and look at it that it could have been a swatting attempt?
I think perhaps you guys should stop watching cop shows where the cops always wait to be shot first but never get hit, and Masuka hits two keys on the keyboard and instantly knows everything. The cops have not hired Alexa as their omnipotent dispatcher.
So it's okay for a cop to shoot an innocent, but if I go outside to someone who is breaking into my storage with a gun in my hand, and they reach under their coat and I think they are pulling a gun and I fire and they end up dead but turned out not to be armed, how easy do you think its going to be me getting off vs a cop who shoots an innocent on their own property?
I do understand the police training, and shooting first as well as accidents can happen, but I fail to understand how this did happen if it was executed properly to begin with it could have been avoided, think of it this way a Rifle bullet goes at over 1000 feet per second pretty sure of this if one was outside with the scope on him even if he put his hands down the moment they saw a gun they could have fired but instead they didn't do it this way thus making it their fault in my eyes, and they should be required to pay for it.
I just question why a cop will get off with it but a civilian who shoots a trespasser when they feel their life is threatened and they were breaking in, and have to go to jail/trial vs the guy who was on his own property doing nothing wrong.
Speaking of such how did the dispatcher not know that it could have been a prank call, did they not check the cell towers location which the phone was coming from obviously the person who was arrested was stupid enough not to mask his identity through multiple VPN / Usage of Skype for example, but used their own cell-phone did they not check where he was calling from vs where the other person house was located at and look at it that it could have been a swatting attempt?
I think perhaps you guys should stop watching cop shows where the cops always wait to be shot first but never get hit, and Masuka hits two keys on the keyboard and instantly knows everything. The cops have not hired Alexa as their omnipotent dispatcher.
So it's okay for a cop to shoot an innocent, but if I go outside to someone who is breaking into my storage with a gun in my hand, and they reach under their coat and I think they are pulling a gun and I fire and they end up dead but turned out not to be armed, how easy do you think its going to be me getting off vs a cop who shoots an innocent on their own property?
I do understand the police training, and shooting first as well as accidents can happen, but I fail to understand how this did happen if it was executed properly to begin with it could have been avoided, think of it this way a Rifle bullet goes at over 1000 feet per second pretty sure of this if one was outside with the scope on him even if he put his hands down the moment they saw a gun they could have fired but instead they didn't do it this way thus making it their fault in my eyes, and they should be required to pay for it.
I just question why a cop will get off with it but a civilian who shoots a trespasser when they feel their life is threatened and they were breaking in, and have to go to jail/trial vs the guy who was on his own property doing nothing wrong.
It depends. You'd have trouble if you chased some thief down and shot him in the back while he was fleeing or something. However in many states deadly force can legally be used on trespassers without the obligation to retreat.
The point I was trying to make about a Dispatcher was: Someone is "kidnapped" and "taken hostage" and "kept in front of a gun" in a "gas doused house", yet he manages to make a 10min phone call. Isn't this a bit strange? Not all facts lining up etc. Properly trained dispatcher would've known that sth is fishy and would've send a patrol car first. Not an Armored Division lol.
Don't think you have a very good grounding in real world police procedure or behavior.
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
Sadly police shooting unarmed civilians has become too common to just say oooops these days. Being in Canada I think we need a wall on our southern border.
With the way things are going down in Canada, a wall isn't exactly a bad idea, all things considered.
The point I was trying to make about a Dispatcher was: Someone is "kidnapped" and "taken hostage" and "kept in front of a gun" in a "gas doused house", yet he manages to make a 10min phone call. Isn't this a bit strange? Not all facts lining up etc. Properly trained dispatcher would've known that sth is fishy and would've send a patrol car first. Not an Armored Division lol.
Don't think you have a very good grounding in real world police procedure or behavior.
So much easier to blame the police than it is to blame some scummy 25 year old basement dweller, of course blaming the innocent is a common tactic of certain types of people, i mean, i am seriously hoping that nobody here thinks that swatting people as a prank is okay? and that if it goes wrong then its the police fault and not the jerkoff that 'pranked' them.
The point I was trying to make about a Dispatcher was: Someone is "kidnapped" and "taken hostage" and "kept in front of a gun" in a "gas doused house", yet he manages to make a 10min phone call. Isn't this a bit strange? Not all facts lining up etc. Properly trained dispatcher would've known that sth is fishy and would've send a patrol car first. Not an Armored Division lol.
Don't think you have a very good grounding in real world police procedure or behavior.
So much easier to blame the police than it is to blame some scummy 25 year old basement dweller, of course blaming the innocent is a common tactic of certain types of people, i mean, i am seriously hoping that nobody here thinks that swatting people as a prank is okay? and that if it goes wrong then its the police fault and not the jerkoff that 'pranked' them.
It's the shared fault. Nobody's innocent in this case. I used to review ban materials in LoL's Tribunal and let me tell you this...this is one of those cases where both the reporter and the reportee should be banned. In this case both the caller and cop should be punished.
The only innocent man now tells tales to worms. Horrible.
Shared fault? seriously WTF. The police were doing their job, somehow i seriously doubt any customer service experience could give you even the slightest possible insight into Police procedures. This isn't some game we're talking about, its reality and thats where peoples lives are at stake, and having stupid .... put others lives at risk with pranks, you have absolutely no clue, and the cop responsible likely needs counseling not punishment, get a clue, or even better, some real world experience.
I watched a German streamer once who was asked if he wasn't worried of swatting. He had a great conflict with a Brasilian streamer before and his community seemed rather upset.
He simply answered: If the German police get's a call that I have a gun and I am a threat then they will send 2 policemen. They will knock at my door here, they will ask if everything is fine. And unless they get the impression that I am a psychopath they will leave again.
The problem is completely about the American police opening fire without considering these phone calls to be a hoax.
Swatting doesn't even happen here in Germany because people know the police will investigate first rather than putting handcuffs on the gamer live on stream... or worse.
When does the cop that killed an innocent man, uninvolved in any sort of crime also going to be arrested I wonder.
Definitely. The cop deserves to be punished as well. He pulled a Gun...he should serve a sentence. I mean, it's not like he couldn't aim at an Arm or a Leg. ffs he shot TO KILL. That deserves...
...JUSTICE!
Police are trained to shoot until the threat is stopped. They are specifically trained to shoot at the target's center mass, which is the chest/torso region. Cops don't shoot at extremities., and they don't fire warning shots.
Really? Now, that's just training PAID KILLERS. They should do all of things you just said they don't do.
The reason they do that is twofold: one, they are trained to kill, and should only fire when killing is necessary to protect their or another's life (I'm not going to debate what they do in practice, read any other post here).
The second reason they teach that is because pistols can be inaccurate, nerves can make you more inaccurate, and there can be others around. The safest shot to take for a hit is the chest. Shoot for a limb and you're just endangering everything else around you.
I also saw somewhere once that if you hit a limb you can cause it to spasm and then squeeze a trigger
I watched a German streamer once who was asked if he wasn't worried of swatting. He had a great conflict with a Brasilian streamer before and his community seemed rather upset.
He simply answered: If the German police get's a call that I have a gun and I am a threat then they will send 2 policemen. They will knock at my door here, they will ask if everything is fine. And unless they get the impression that I am a psychopath they will leave again.
The problem is completely about the American police opening fire without considering these phone calls to be a hoax.
Swatting doesn't even happen here in Germany because people know the police will investigate first rather than putting handcuffs on the gamer live on stream... or worse.
We can definitely make a case that dispatch should have seen through this hoax. However it wasn't even close to the scenario you describe.
The caller didn't just say that some guy had a gun and was a threat; he described a scenario where he had just shot his father in the head and had his mother and a sibling at gunpoint in a closet. Furthermore he had spread gasoline all over the house and was planning to burn it down. I sincerely doubt the German police would merely send over two cops to casually check in on that situation provided they believed the threat.
The guy who gave false address. The guy who made a false emergency call. The guy who did not comply with the officer's orders. The officer who prematurely fired his weapon.
Not one single person is completely blameless for the outcome. There's a lot to learn from this series of events. One being that as a victim, you can't control the events, but you can effect the outcome.
and society that can put a man on the moon, put all of human knowedge into a device the size of a hand but can not come up with any idea of how to contain a situation quickly without using a device that has a primary purpose to kill.
nope...not tranquilizer darts, not rubber bullets, nothing, nothing else can possibly work.
there is that too
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
The caller should be charged with negligent homicide for creating the dangerous situation. He had a habit of doing it, make an example out of him.
Not sure I'd say it was "negligent". The guy who gave the address? Maybe. But if you call police with a story that indicates that "murder is imminent unless you act now", that sounds more like premeditated homicide, to me. Whatever it is that they charge people with for intentionally running someone over with their car is what they should be charged with.
I agree with what someone had said about getting the caller's address before you dispatch, or at least enroute. How on earth didn't they do that? IMO this is where the system broke down most of all.
As far as the police go, I tend to side more often with the victims of police shootings than not. But a split second's hesitation can get you or another officer killed, and it's something that has probably happened in their precinct. That's no small thing to consider before we label cops as soulless murder machines.
I watched a German streamer once who was asked if he wasn't worried of swatting. He had a great conflict with a Brasilian streamer before and his community seemed rather upset.
He simply answered: If the German police get's a call that I have a gun and I am a threat then they will send 2 policemen. They will knock at my door here, they will ask if everything is fine. And unless they get the impression that I am a psychopath they will leave again.
The problem is completely about the American police opening fire without considering these phone calls to be a hoax.
Swatting doesn't even happen here in Germany because people know the police will investigate first rather than putting handcuffs on the gamer live on stream... or worse.
We can definitely make a case that dispatch should have seen through this hoax. However it wasn't even close to the scenario you describe.
The caller didn't just say that some guy had a gun and was a threat; he described a scenario where he had just shot his father in the head and had his mother and a sibling at gunpoint in a closet. Furthermore he had spread gasoline all over the house and was planning to burn it down. I sincerely doubt the German police would merely send over two cops to casually check in on that situation provided they believed the threat.
But as I keep saying: "How the hell did he manage to make a 10m+ phone call if all of that happened?"
It's like saying: "I'm in a bank that's being robbed. We are being held hostage. HALP!" <- yeah sure, the robbers will just wait for you to finish a 911 call. lol
It's obviously a hoax.
Yeah I put it really simplistic to make it sound halfway believeable but if you work at the police and get a call like: "I just shot my dad in the head and I took my mother hostage and I am ready to burn down the house and just thought I would let you know..."
You are right they wouldn't send 2 cops. They would tell him off on the line and hang up over this nonsense.
*edit* Quoted Gorwe because I agree with him on the answer.
But as I keep saying: "How the hell did he manage to make a 10m+ phone call if all of that happened?"
It's like saying: "I'm in a bank that's being robbed. We are being held hostage. HALP!" <- yeah sure, the robbers will just wait for you to finish a 911 call. lol
It's obviously a hoax.
Yeah I put it really simplistic to make it sound halfway believeable but if you work at the police and get a call like: "I just shot my dad in the head and I took my mother hostage and I am ready to burn down the house and just thought I would let you know..."
You are right they wouldn't send 2 cops. They would tell him off on the line and hang up over this nonsense.
*edit* Quoted Gorwe because I agree with him on the answer.
There are no shortage of cases where people did something similar, and it was not a hoax.
Here in the states, in any given year, we have between 1000-1500 murder-suicides.
We also have alot of what's called "suicide by cop". yes, it happens often enough that there's a term for it.
So no, based on what the kid said on the phone, there was no reason to assume it's a hoax and hang up. And if they made that assumption and it turned out to real, the PD would have been sued into oblivion by the surviving family.
The caller should be charged with negligent homicide for creating the dangerous situation. He had a habit of doing it, make an example out of him.
Totally disagree, he should be charged with at least murder 2.
They'd never be able to prosecute that. 2nd degree murder is still intentional, just not pre-meditated. It wouldn't fit this scenario at all and would never stick in court. They need to hit him with charges that can be prosecuted.
But as I keep saying: "How the hell did he manage to make a 10m+ phone call if all of that happened?"
It's like saying: "I'm in a bank that's being robbed. We are being held hostage. HALP!" <- yeah sure, the robbers will just wait for you to finish a 911 call. lol
It's obviously a hoax.
Yeah I put it really simplistic to make it sound halfway believeable but if you work at the police and get a call like: "I just shot my dad in the head and I took my mother hostage and I am ready to burn down the house and just thought I would let you know..."
You are right they wouldn't send 2 cops. They would tell him off on the line and hang up over this nonsense.
*edit* Quoted Gorwe because I agree with him on the answer.
There are no shortage of cases where people did something similar, and it was not a hoax.
Here in the states, in any given year, we have between 1000-1500 murder-suicides.
We also have alot of what's called "suicide by cop". yes, it happens often enough that there's a term for it.
So no, based on what the kid said on the phone, there was no reason to assume it's a hoax and hang up. And if they made that assumption and it turned out to real, the PD would have been sued into oblivion by the surviving family.
You all are talking nonsense.
Its safe to assume any police force that got this call would at the very minimum do a drive by to verify.
The caller should be charged with negligent homicide for creating the dangerous situation. He had a habit of doing it, make an example out of him.
Not sure I'd say it was "negligent". The guy who gave the address? Maybe. But if you call police with a story that indicates that "murder is imminent unless you act now", that sounds more like premeditated homicide, to me. Whatever it is that they charge people with for intentionally running someone over with their car is what they should be charged with.
Prosecutors would have to argue that his intention of making the false call was to have someone killed, and that would be impossible. Better to see him charged with something that can be realistically prosecuted.
There are no shortage of cases where people did something similar, and it was not a hoax.
Here in the states, in any given year, we have between 1000-1500 murder-suicides.
We also have alot of what's called "suicide by cop". yes, it happens often enough that there's a term for it.
So no, based on what the kid said on the phone, there was no reason to assume it's a hoax and hang up. And if they made that assumption and it turned out to real, the PD would have been sued into oblivion by the surviving family.
You all are talking nonsense.
Its safe to assume any police force that got this call would at the very minimum do a drive by to verify.
What would a drive by verify for them, exactly? I could walk 3 blocks in my town and not be able to see a single thing going on inside any of the houses; you think driving by will do the trick?
But as I keep saying: "How the hell did he manage to make a 10m+ phone call if all of that happened?"
It's like saying: "I'm in a bank that's being robbed. We are being held hostage. HALP!" <- yeah sure, the robbers will just wait for you to finish a 911 call. lol
It's obviously a hoax.
Yeah I put it really simplistic to make it sound halfway believeable but if you work at the police and get a call like: "I just shot my dad in the head and I took my mother hostage and I am ready to burn down the house and just thought I would let you know..."
You are right they wouldn't send 2 cops. They would tell him off on the line and hang up over this nonsense.
*edit* Quoted Gorwe because I agree with him on the answer.
There are no shortage of cases where people did something similar, and it was not a hoax.
Here in the states, in any given year, we have between 1000-1500 murder-suicides.
We also have alot of what's called "suicide by cop". yes, it happens often enough that there's a term for it.
So no, based on what the kid said on the phone, there was no reason to assume it's a hoax and hang up. And if they made that assumption and it turned out to real, the PD would have been sued into oblivion by the surviving family.
You all are talking nonsense.
Its safe to assume any police force that got this call would at the very minimum do a drive by to verify.
No I am actually quite serious. The cop on the phone would ask for the name of the caller as well as the family members and then compare this information with the names registered to that address.
But as I keep saying: "How the hell did he manage to make a 10m+ phone call if all of that happened?"
It's like saying: "I'm in a bank that's being robbed. We are being held hostage. HALP!" <- yeah sure, the robbers will just wait for you to finish a 911 call. lol
It's obviously a hoax.
Yeah I put it really simplistic to make it sound halfway believeable but if you work at the police and get a call like: "I just shot my dad in the head and I took my mother hostage and I am ready to burn down the house and just thought I would let you know..."
You are right they wouldn't send 2 cops. They would tell him off on the line and hang up over this nonsense.
*edit* Quoted Gorwe because I agree with him on the answer.
There are no shortage of cases where people did something similar, and it was not a hoax.
Here in the states, in any given year, we have between 1000-1500 murder-suicides.
We also have alot of what's called "suicide by cop". yes, it happens often enough that there's a term for it.
So no, based on what the kid said on the phone, there was no reason to assume it's a hoax and hang up. And if they made that assumption and it turned out to real, the PD would have been sued into oblivion by the surviving family.
You all are talking nonsense.
Its safe to assume any police force that got this call would at the very minimum do a drive by to verify.
No I am actually quite serious. The cop on the phone would ask for the name of the caller as well as the family members and then compare this information with the names registered to that address.
you are kidding right ... it does not work that way for obvious reasons
But as I keep saying: "How the hell did he manage to make a 10m+ phone call if all of that happened?"
It's like saying: "I'm in a bank that's being robbed. We are being held hostage. HALP!" <- yeah sure, the robbers will just wait for you to finish a 911 call. lol
It's obviously a hoax.
Yeah I put it really simplistic to make it sound halfway believeable but if you work at the police and get a call like: "I just shot my dad in the head and I took my mother hostage and I am ready to burn down the house and just thought I would let you know..."
You are right they wouldn't send 2 cops. They would tell him off on the line and hang up over this nonsense.
*edit* Quoted Gorwe because I agree with him on the answer.
There are no shortage of cases where people did something similar, and it was not a hoax.
Here in the states, in any given year, we have between 1000-1500 murder-suicides.
We also have alot of what's called "suicide by cop". yes, it happens often enough that there's a term for it.
So no, based on what the kid said on the phone, there was no reason to assume it's a hoax and hang up. And if they made that assumption and it turned out to real, the PD would have been sued into oblivion by the surviving family.
You all are talking nonsense.
Its safe to assume any police force that got this call would at the very minimum do a drive by to verify.
No I am actually quite serious. The cop on the phone would ask for the name of the caller as well as the family members and then compare this information with the names registered to that address.
you are kidding right ... it does not work that way for obvious reasons
Please enlighten me what those obvious reasons are.
But as I keep saying: "How the hell did he manage to make a 10m+ phone call if all of that happened?"
It's like saying: "I'm in a bank that's being robbed. We are being held hostage. HALP!" <- yeah sure, the robbers will just wait for you to finish a 911 call. lol
It's obviously a hoax.
Yeah I put it really simplistic to make it sound halfway believeable but if you work at the police and get a call like: "I just shot my dad in the head and I took my mother hostage and I am ready to burn down the house and just thought I would let you know..."
You are right they wouldn't send 2 cops. They would tell him off on the line and hang up over this nonsense.
*edit* Quoted Gorwe because I agree with him on the answer.
There are no shortage of cases where people did something similar, and it was not a hoax.
Here in the states, in any given year, we have between 1000-1500 murder-suicides.
We also have alot of what's called "suicide by cop". yes, it happens often enough that there's a term for it.
So no, based on what the kid said on the phone, there was no reason to assume it's a hoax and hang up. And if they made that assumption and it turned out to real, the PD would have been sued into oblivion by the surviving family.
You all are talking nonsense.
Its safe to assume any police force that got this call would at the very minimum do a drive by to verify.
No I am actually quite serious. The cop on the phone would ask for the name of the caller as well as the family members and then compare this information with the names registered to that address.
you are kidding right ... it does not work that way for obvious reasons
Please enlighten me what those obvious reasons are.
ok ... lets play .. im the caller your the 911 operator ...
Since this discussion, yesterday Just want to point out what I personally feel is a serious problem.
Certain games such as PUBG, and Smite use a 3rd party program called Vivox, which is not secure and while itself may not lead to SWATTING its possible to my knowledge to leak a persons IP address which can be geo-located like right to a person hometown, this may not be effective for all ISP, but I tested it with my own IP, and that of a friends before and it was able to get the exact city we live in which I find a serious security issue.
Yesterday while playing Smite, just to point out how toxic that community is the discussion was somewhat brought up, and although I did not get screen caps of the other user I just feel it's important to point out how toxic the Smite community is with its player base is, and that it does disclose information of peoples, as well as people who would likely SWAT other people if they knew a person's Real Information.
Basically while gaming the other day, someone rudely made the comment that the person who passed away IRL due to this specific incident was a nobody and laughed, while another user, came right out and said that they hope I get shot too, these are the type of community and people that are not needed in gaming community such as Smite, and there has been a lot of gamers and League OF Legends players too.
Hi-Rez as a company despite spending $300+ in their games seems to allow such a toxic community as nothing for the last years has actually been done to improve it, the reporting system is a total joke in both Paladins, and Smite, after the game with at least two extremely toxic people yesterday, I went from 100% good will to 0% instantly, and an automated message saying I would be banned for intentional feeding of a score of 0/1/0 because they surrendered early, and were just flat out being toxic the person who went mid when some of us thought they were a support ended up feeding like 3+ Deaths. The only company that appears to be doing the best job at dealing with this type of activity is Riot Games / League OF Legends, this behavior over there, and on Blizzard Entertainments service for that matter isn't tolerated, HI-REZ on the other hand has major work that needs to be done.
edit: If you play smite arena only, or other game modes you may not run into toxicity like this, but Conquest is by far the worst experience you can have at times, due to no communication from players, or just flat out extremely toxic people.
Comments
Never see a news story where someone saw a boob online and then went out and shot a bunch of people or swatted someone.
If someone has mental issues and they play a violent game, they are far more likely to actually get WORSE and commit a criminal act. Those people should not be allowed to play video games unless they take medication for their illness. Sadly though a lot of people with mental illnesses don't get proper treatment...they retreat to the gaming world where they are then exposed to violence.
In this case, the guy was playing call of duty, swatted many times before...someone somewhere should have said "violent games are making him worse, he should be monitored to make sure he doesnt play these games"
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul
I do understand the police training, and shooting first as well as accidents can happen, but I fail to understand how this did happen if it was executed properly to begin with it could have been avoided, think of it this way a Rifle bullet goes at over 1000 feet per second pretty sure of this if one was outside with the scope on him even if he put his hands down the moment they saw a gun they could have fired but instead they didn't do it this way thus making it their fault in my eyes, and they should be required to pay for it.
I just question why a cop will get off with it but a civilian who shoots a trespasser when they feel their life is threatened and they were breaking in, and have to go to jail/trial vs the guy who was on his own property doing nothing wrong.
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
He had a great conflict with a Brasilian streamer before and his community seemed rather upset.
He simply answered:
If the German police get's a call that I have a gun and I am a threat then they will send 2 policemen. They will knock at my door here, they will ask if everything is fine.
And unless they get the impression that I am a psychopath they will leave again.
The problem is completely about the American police opening fire without considering these phone calls to be a hoax.
Swatting doesn't even happen here in Germany because people know the police will investigate first rather than putting handcuffs on the gamer live on stream... or worse.
The caller didn't just say that some guy had a gun and was a threat; he described a scenario where he had just shot his father in the head and had his mother and a sibling at gunpoint in a closet. Furthermore he had spread gasoline all over the house and was planning to burn it down. I sincerely doubt the German police would merely send over two cops to casually check in on that situation provided they believed the threat.
nope...not tranquilizer darts, not rubber bullets, nothing, nothing else can possibly work.
there is that too
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
I agree with what someone had said about getting the caller's address before you dispatch, or at least enroute. How on earth didn't they do that? IMO this is where the system broke down most of all.
As far as the police go, I tend to side more often with the victims of police shootings than not. But a split second's hesitation can get you or another officer killed, and it's something that has probably happened in their precinct. That's no small thing to consider before we label cops as soulless murder machines.
"I just shot my dad in the head and I took my mother hostage and I am ready to burn down the house and just thought I would let you know..."
You are right they wouldn't send 2 cops.
They would tell him off on the line and hang up over this nonsense.
*edit*
Quoted Gorwe because I agree with him on the answer.
Here in the states, in any given year, we have between 1000-1500 murder-suicides.
We also have alot of what's called "suicide by cop". yes, it happens often enough that there's a term for it.
So no, based on what the kid said on the phone, there was no reason to assume it's a hoax and hang up. And if they made that assumption and it turned out to real, the PD would have been sued into oblivion by the surviving family.
Its safe to assume any police force that got this call would at the very minimum do a drive by to verify.
The cop on the phone would ask for the name of the caller as well as the family members and then compare this information with the names registered to that address.
" Hello 911?"
Certain games such as PUBG, and Smite use a 3rd party program called Vivox, which is not secure and while itself may not lead to SWATTING its possible to my knowledge to leak a persons IP address which can be geo-located like right to a person hometown, this may not be effective for all ISP, but I tested it with my own IP, and that of a friends before and it was able to get the exact city we live in which I find a serious security issue.
Yesterday while playing Smite, just to point out how toxic that community is the discussion was somewhat brought up, and although I did not get screen caps of the other user I just feel it's important to point out how toxic the Smite community is with its player base is, and that it does disclose information of peoples, as well as people who would likely SWAT other people if they knew a person's Real Information.
Basically while gaming the other day, someone rudely made the comment that the person who passed away IRL due to this specific incident was a nobody and laughed, while another user, came right out and said that they hope I get shot too, these are the type of community and people that are not needed in gaming community such as Smite, and there has been a lot of gamers and League OF Legends players too.
Hi-Rez as a company despite spending $300+ in their games seems to allow such a toxic community as nothing for the last years has actually been done to improve it, the reporting system is a total joke in both Paladins, and Smite, after the game with at least two extremely toxic people yesterday, I went from 100% good will to 0% instantly, and an automated message saying I would be banned for intentional feeding of a score of 0/1/0 because they surrendered early, and were just flat out being toxic the person who went mid when some of us thought they were a support ended up feeding like 3+ Deaths. The only company that appears to be doing the best job at dealing with this type of activity is Riot Games / League OF Legends, this behavior over there, and on Blizzard Entertainments service for that matter isn't tolerated, HI-REZ on the other hand has major work that needs to be done.
edit: If you play smite arena only, or other game modes you may not run into toxicity like this, but Conquest is by far the worst experience you can have at times, due to no communication from players, or just flat out extremely toxic people.