Will County Sheriff’s Office Investigating Multiple Swatting Calls
The Will County Sheriff’s Office are investigating multiple “swatting” calls over the weekend. All of the calls were unfounded. The first calls occurred last Thursday during the midnight shift for the same residence in the 700 block of Spencer Street in Joliet Township. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline, the Veteran’s Crisis Hotline, and 911 were all contacted regarding these “Swatting” incidents. Will County Sheriff’s Office personnel responded three separate times beginning on 03/27 at 8:43 PM, 03/28 at 1:16 AM, and 03/28 at 2:29 AM. The first call was regarding a suicide attempt by firearm complaint. The second was from a female caller who stated that her father was armed with a knife and was trying to stab her. The third call was called in to the Joliet Police Department non-emergency number which stated that “everything was on fire”. All of these calls were false.
On 03/30 at 10:30 PM deputies were sent to the 13600 block of Beaver Den Trail in the Village of Homer Glen. The caller stated that he had shot his grandmother in the head and stomach with an AR-15 rifle. The caller stated that he was holding the weapon to her sister’s head and had hostages. 911 dispatchers heard the sound of gunfire and the call disconnected. One of the family members inside of the residence was playing the Grand Theft Auto video game prior to Deputies arriving on scene. It is believed that one of the players used the URL address associated with the player to call in the bogus incident. Detectives are currently looking into these incidents.
