A Fortnite Player Has Swatted Themselves by Accident
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Description
A Fortnite player found themselves in a spot of unexpected trouble after accidentally swatting themselves. Swatting is a dangerous and illegal activity that has led to a lot of dangerous situations for streamers and gamers in the past, but this is likely the first instance of a gamer, in Fortnite or otherwise, accidentally sending the police after themselves.
Swatting, for the unfamiliar, is the act of calling the police on another person in hopes of getting their home or business swarmed by police. Swatters make false claims that someone is being held hostage or the like, which can lead to tons of cops showing up to storm the victim’s home to put an end to the crime. However, under the right circumstances, it seems it’s possible to swat oneself, as well.
Alleged Phone Malfunction Leads to Police Swarming Gamer’s Home
In Michigan, on August 7, all active Jackson County Sheriff’s Office units swarmed a home following a call to the police, believing that there was a possible shooting at the residence. Unfortunately, the call to the police had been made in error. Prior to the call being made, a boy inside the house was simply playing Fortnite when their phone somehow made a call to 911. The boy speculated that it was due to his phone’s damaged screen somehow triggering the call, but it’s not clear if this is the case. It seems that once the call was active, the dispatcher on the other end probably heard shooting sound effects from Fortnite, and possibly violent speech, given some of the trash-talk that PVP games can invoke.
Thankfully, no one was hurt. The boy and his parents complied with the police, and after searching the child and the home, the cops determined there was no active threat. Jackson County Undersheriff Jeremy Barnett stated that the 911 call had sounded “real bad,” but expressed relief that everything had been okay. He added that it wasn’t uncommon for the police to receive unintentional 911 calls due to misdials, but it’s fair to say that most of those misdials probably don’t include the sounds of gunfire.
Unfortunately, not every swatting incident ends as smoothly as this one. Swatting has resulted in death in some instances. Even without a casualty, the victims often go through extreme fear during the ordeal. In some cases, this has even led to streamers like QTCinderella experiencing PTSD as a result of the encounter.
