MORENO VALLEY: Swatting Call Sends Large Police Response To Home

On Saturday afternoon, September 14, 2019, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department along with Cal Fire / Riverside County Fire and AMR responded to a report of a shooting at a residence in the Serrano Heights area of the city. Initial reports indicated a 16 year old had shot his parents and was armed inside the home. A large emergency response was dispatched to the home in the 11400 block of Steeplechase Drive around 4:45pm. After deputies made entry into the home they quickly determined the family was the victim of a “swatting” incident. Swatting is were a false call of a crime is made to 911 to elicit a large police response, such as a Swat Team. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is actively investigating the incident. A swatting call can be made anywhere in the U.S. or even out of the country and can made to look as though the 911 call originated from the location were police are responding to. The calls can be very hard to trace. In February 2016, a teenager involved in creating the viral videos “Damn Daniel” was the victim of a similar swatting incident in Riverside triggering a large Police response to his home. Swatting is a crime and can lead to innocent people being injured and or killed.