Some gamers might throw their controller or curse at the TV when they lose a Call of Duty match, but one pla yer went much, much further this week.
The New York Post reports that a Long Island prankster called police over Skype Tuesday and told them he was Rafael Castillo, a 17-year-old from Long Beach, NY. He reportedly informed the authorities that he had "just kille d my mother and I might shoot more people," also giving police Castillo's address.
Long Isla nd police then dispatched helicopters and other emergency vehicles to the scene. In total, more than 60 officers were on site, including "elite members" of a special operations unit, the New York Post says.
When police arrived at the home, Castillo's mother was in the kitchen, unscratched. The authorities then attempted for 20 minutes to get Castillo to come out of his room, but he apparently had headphones on and could not hear what was going on.
Eventually, Castillo emerged from the room and it became apparent that no one was in any danger. Police said that the person who called in the prank likely tracked Castillo's IP address to find out where he lived. The hoaxer's identity and whereabouts are unknown, though police said they are trying to track this person down through digital means.
Pranks of this nature are nothing new, and are known popularly as "swatting." In this case, New York police spent time and resources responding to the hoax, but at least everyone was safe.
| Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch |
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