Red Bank Police Department responds to a possible hoax
"We responded to an initial caller, who told dispatch he had just killed his girlfriend and that he had barricaded himself in a business in the 2200 block of Dayton Blvd., and he was armed," said Chief of Police, Tim Christol. Officers immediately jumped into action, clearing every building in the surrounding area.
Officers eventually closed in on the business where the suspect told them he was barricaded, but when they arrived they said they couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary.
"When we got inside we found that it’s either a false call or there’s something else going on with the call," said Chief Christol, "There was nobody inside the business."
That’s when the chief said they began to slowly suspect it was all just a hoax, "Right now we have this phenomena going on of people swatting. That’s where they call in a false call just to get a swat or tactical police response."
"Swatting" became popular back in 2008, and is used by people all across the country, but Chief Christol said it could also lead to serious consequences like jail time or in some cases death.
"It’s very dangerous," said Chief Christol, "The police response are drawing resources away from where we need to be, out providing public service to our community. We’re drawing those resources, we’re responding in a manner that may be dangerous as we respond so it elevates our level."
Authorities reassure this was an isolated incident that doesn’t happen very often in that area, but said they do plan to get to the bottom of it. Since 2008 the FBI has arrested dozens of people on federal charges of swatting, including a 19-year-old boy who was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for a swatting conspiracy that had been going on for years.
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