Swatting is the act of malicious manipulation of 911 emergency system in order to send a SWAT team to an innocent victim's house.The newly found fun of teenager hackers doesn't come cheap! If caught, the hackers face up to 18 years in prison an fines up to $18,000.
The latest swatting incident happened in Orange County, CA when a 19-year-old hacker thought it would be funny to fabricate a story that sent a heavily armed SWAT Team storming into an innocent California family’s home.
The caller goes from a drug overdose to talking about shooting someone,” said Sgt. Mike McHenry, who led the investigation. “Then it changes again saying that he’s been shot in the shoulder by his sister and that he just shot and killed her and would shoot anyone who came near.”
“They surrounded the home, inside were a husband and wife and their two toddlers,” said Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman with the Orange County District Attorney’s office. “The husband heard rustling outside of his home and believed it to be a prowler. He took a knife and went into the backyard. Instead of finding a prowler he found a SWAT team pointing assault rifles at him. It really easily could have escalated into an innocent person being killed,” she added. “We’re lucky that they didn’t shoot him.”
