Report of shooting a hoax

NEWS/ POLICE — A report of a shooting at a home in the 1100 block of 14th Street on Thursday turned out to be a hoax but RCMP say it probably wasn’t a so-called “swatting” call.

At 1 p.m., police got a call from 911 that there was a man in the yard of a residence who had a knife and a gun and that someone had been shot. Kamloops RCMP responded and the South East District Emergency Response Team was activated.

Police contained the area and evacuated neighbours for safety. Cst. Jason Epp said that as more information was gained, telephone contact with the occupants of the residence was made and the occupants came out and were briefly detained and questioned. It was quickly determined it was a false 911 complaint and the occupants themselves were in fact victims of the hoax, said Epp.

“Although this resembles what has been labelled ‘swatting’ calls, this complaint does not have the same characteristics, primarily due to the fact that this does not appear to be a computer generated call,” he said.

The term ‘swatting’ comes from SWAT, short for Special Weapons and Tactics, a specialized police unit in the U.S. equipped to storm buildings in which suspects have taken refuge.

In swatting, false calls are made to police about fabricated incidents, often using computer technology. The practice has led to several shootings in the U.S.

Kamloops RCMP are continuing to investigate the incident, and Epp said criminal charges will likely be sought if the identity of the caller can be confirmed.

If anyone has information relating to the identity of the suspect they are asked to call the Kamloops RCMP at 250-828-3000 or Crime Stoppers at 250-828-3175.