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What is "swatting" and why does it keep happening?

On Sunday morning, a distraught man called 911 saying that his father had gone crazy and was armed with an assault rifle in the house. 

“He’s shooting a gun,” the man said, adding he thought his father just shot his mother and that he was next.

The dispatcher advised him to stay hidden and tried to reassure him saying that police officers were almost there.

But when York Regional Police arrived on the scene at 5:41 a.m. that Sunday, they burst through the front door only to find Vincent Yan, his wife and their two young children sleeping inside their Richmond Hill, Ont., home.

Yan and his family were the unsuspecting victims of a fake 911 call that police refer to as swatting. 

What is swatting?  

According to the FBI who first warned about this practice in 2008, pranksters place a convincing call to 911 about a fake emergency, such as a bomb threat or a threatening gunman, to get police ­— usually a SWAT team — to respond.

How does it happen?

The agency, which declined to comment, said on its website that these pranksters not only trick dispatchers with convincing stories but also use caller ID spoofing “to make it appear as though the emergency call is coming from the victim’s phone.”

In the Richmond Hill incident, police have not disclosed how the call was made to appear to come from Yan’s phone number, but they warned the public not to share personal details, such as home addresses, on social media.

“Sometimes swatting is done for revenge, sometimes as a prank,” the FBI said on its website. “Either way, it is a serious crime, and one that has potentially dangerous consequences.”

No one was hurt in the Richmond Hill swatting incident but it ties up resources and some people have been injured. One officer was injured responding to a call that turned out to be a hoax and some victims suffered post-traumatic stress disorder or mild heart attacks following the police raids, the FBI said.

How prevalent is the swatting?

The Richmond Hill incident isn’t the only swatting case York regional police have encountered. On Dec. 19, 2014, officers got a call about a man holding his two-year-old son hostage for a ransom. But when they arrived they found the front door of the Stouffville home unlocked and the family inside watching TV, Const. Andy Pattenden told Yahoo Canada.

The force doesn’t track swatting cases, he said. But there have been a spate of incidents in Canada recently.

An elementary school in Brampton, Ont., was placed in lockdown on Tuesday morning, while several nearby schools were under hold-and-secures after police responded to a call about an armed person threatening to “come to the school and harm individuals.”

Peel regional police concluded only after deploying a large police presence over several hours at Gordon Graydon Senior Public School that it was another case of swatting.

Earlier this month, a 17-year-old youth from Coquitlam, B.C., pleaded guilty to a dozen charges after admitting in court he targeted online gamers in B.C. and five U.S. States, mostly female players, who spurned requests to connect online, according to media reports.

Last May, a 16-year-old boy in Ottawa faced 60 criminal offences, including uttering death threats and conveying false information with intent to alarm, after he was accused of making at least 30 fake emergency calls to 911 services across North America. His lawyer Joshua Clarke, who declined to comment, said in an email that a judge-only trial for the teen is scheduled to begin June 16.

Two other teenagers, one from Milton, Ont., and another from Laval, Que., were also arrested as part of that multi-jurisdictional investigation. 

On Wednesday, a 16 year-old boy was arrested in connection with multiple swatting incidents in Ontario since February.

In the U.S., swatting has been an issue for law enforcement agencies going back at least 12 years. The FBI said it doesn't have swatting statistics. Swatters have been known to target celebrities in Los Angeles as well as online gamers who live stream their plays.

According to the FBI, five swatters were responsible for making fake 911 calls in more than 60 cities targeting more than 100 victims between 2002 and 2006. All five received prison sentences, including Matthew Weigman, then 19, who received an 11-year sentence in late 2009.

What criminal offence could swatters face?

York regional police said that anyone found responsible for making fake 911 calls could face a number of criminal charges, including public mischief, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, if convicted.

After the Richmond Hill incident, police released the audio of the 911 call hoping the public would help them nab the swatter. Const. Pattenden said police have received a lot of tips but no arrest has been made.