A Yonkers teen was arrested Wednesday for falsely reporting gunshots at Lincoln High School. The arrest was made by Yonkers Police Officers at 11:38 a.m. This was shortly after the Emergency Services Unit arrived on the scene and determined the teen’s accusations of gunfire were false. The incident, referred to as “swatting,” occurred after an anonymous caller informed police that shots had been fired at the school on Kneeland Avenue.
After responding officers and investigators from the Intelligence Division performed a search of the building and spoke with officials from Yonkers Public Schools, they realized that someone had falsely reported an high-risk event that triggered an emergency response.
Through further investigation, detectives determined that a 14-year-old student was responsible for the swatting. Details were provided in a tweet from Yonkers Police HQ.
“Investigators determined that a 14-year-old student at the school made the call and was likely responsible for making additional fraudulent calls in the past; the student was placed into custody at the scene and brought to the Community Affairs Division where he was charged with one count of Falsely Reporting an Incident, a Class E Felony in the New York State Penal Law.”
The minor offender was not identified by police. He was released into parental custody. And he was issued “a desk appearance ticket returnable to Family Court.”
Swatting Trends Are Escalating
Incidents of swatting, described by Yonkers Police HQ as, “an emergency police response to a falsely reported high-risk scenario,” are on the rise, with the New York Post reporting in 2022 that there were more than 60 incidents nationwide in September and October 2022 alone.
The most famous incident of swatting in the US occurred in Wichita, Kansas, in 2017. After an online argument between Shane Gaskill and Casey Viner—two “Call of Duty: WWII” gamers—Viner threatened Gaskill with swatting. In response, Gaskill provided a false address—to a residence occupied by Andrew Finch, who was not involved with either man. Tyler Barriss, a friend of Viner’s, called the police to trigger the swatting. When police arrived at Finch’s residence, he was shot and killed by officer Justin Rapp as he left his house.
This week, a swatting incident involving trans activist and Montana State Representative Zooey Zephyr and her journalist girlfriend Erin Reed made national headlines. Opponents of Reed’s trans advocacy and reporting attempted to swat Reed in her home—a situation that she had anticipated and worked with police to diffuse. Zephyr later tweeted that she had also experienced swatting. “I am fine,” she said. “An individual reported an anonymous tip, targeting my home in Missoula, and the police recognised that it was likely a hoax and called me.”
In their statement following Wednesday’s arrest, Yonkers Police HQ relayed the seriousness of swatting events.
“Falsely reporting an incident is a serious crime that negatively impacts police services and the well-being of those affected and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
