'Swatting' incident prompts police response at Mount Kisco apartments
Authorities said a caller reported to police at around 3:15 p.m. that he was armed and had barricaded himself in one of the Bedford Plaza apartments.
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A case of so-called "swatting" sent dozens of Westchester County police rushing to the scene at an apartment complex in Mount Kisco Saturday afternoon.
Authorities said a caller reported to police at around 3:15 p.m. that he was armed and had barricaded himself in one of the Bedford Plaza apartments.
Resident Wojciech Gronostaj said he saw from his balcony officers responding to the scene, with one getting his gun out of his holster.
Westchester County Police Chief James Luciano said they received a cellular call from a man saying that had harmed his mother pretty seriously, had her inside the apartment, was still armed with a weapon and was not going to come out.
It turned out, however, that it was a "swatting" incident. Such incidents have become a growing problem across the country and happen when a prank call is made to police in an attempt to bring a large number of armed officers to a particular address.
Luciano said responding officers determined that no one inside the apartment was harmed at all, but that they were just innocent victims. He added that someone had used their phone number to make the call.
Police had not found the prank caller as of Saturday night. If caught, he could face criminal charges.
Luciano added that such calls not only put responding officers in harm's way, but the general public as well.
