Bowling Green Police Division responded to a “swatting” report at 1:45 this morning. The Wood County Special Response Team was on standby, but was canceled when police determined the threat was fake.
Police went to an apartment in the 1000 block of Fairview Avenue after the male caller said he shot and killed his mother because she found him doing drugs. Dispatch advised the caller said he would shoot anyone who came to the apartment. The male gave a false name of someone who lived in the apartment. As police were on their way to the scene, dispatch advised the male said he was going to kill himself and then lost contact with him.
The Wood County Sheriff’s Office was contacted to dispatch the Special Response Team.
An officer tried to make contact with the caller as a crisis negotiator, but the call went to voicemail.
Dispatch informed units that there had been a previous “swatting” report for the same address in May 2020. “Swatting” refers to a false report of a violent crime in an attempt to elicit a response from a SWAT team.
An officer called the residents of the apartment, waking up a woman. She asked for verification that it was the police calling, so she was advised to call dispatch. Dispatch then contacted the officers on the scene to let them know the woman would meet them outside her apartment.
The woman said her daughter was in the apartment, and they were both fine. She told officers she was hesitant to believe it was the police on the phone because of the prior “swatting” incident.
Police asked that the daughter also come outside to make sure she was OK.
The daughter said about a half hour earlier she had been talking to a male through an online social media platform. She reportedly became upset with the male after finding out that he is 15 years old, but tells girls online that he is older. The male reportedly became very upset, and ended the conversation by saying that he hoped “she enjoys it and they are coming,” the police report said.
The daughter said she has screenshots of the male’s information and thinks he lives in California.
