FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office responded to three “swatting” calls on Sunday.
Investigators said “swatting” is falsely reporting an emergency with the intent of having officers respond to a location.
The sheriff’s office said they were able to determine the calls came from the same spoofed number.
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The investigators said when officers got to the scene they were able to quickly determine the calls were pranks and the public was not in danger in any of the situations.
“The FCSO is made up of a team of highly trained men and women with years of experience who know the appropriate response for calls of this nature. However, “swatting” calls are not harmless fun, they are illegal, dangerous, and carry serious consequences that can divert responses to real emergencies,” Sheriff Rick Staly said.
This is not the first time Flagler deputies responded to “swatting calls.”
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Deputies responded to three of these prank calls in 2020.
In one of the cases, the prank caller told a dispatcher he had shot his mother in the head.
When deputies responded to the scene, investigators learned no one was harmed.
Anyone with information on who is behind these prank calls is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 386-313-4911.
“Unfortunately the types of calls are so serious that a large police response is required and there is no way for deputies or first responders to know that the call is fake until an investigation is completed. In the meantime, resources are diverted from other calls for service while they investigate a call that turns out to be a prank. It’s not funny and it is illegal and dangerous,” Staly said in 2020.