Pennsylvania teen arrested in at least 9 false-alarm ‘swatting’ calls across US, including one in SW Bend
(Update: Adding video, police comment)
Child pornography was found on 17-year-old's computer
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Pennsylvania State Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in connection with at least nine false-emergency “swatting” calls across the country, including last month’s false report of a shooting at a southwest Bend home that brought out numerous police, closed streets and prompted evacuation of nearby homes.
Since last month, criminal investigators from Pennsylvania State Police and the Collin County Sheriff’s Office (in Texas) have worked together on an investigation regarding a swatting call. That investigation determined the calls were coming from a home in Jackson Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, Bend Police Communications Manager Sheila miller said Friday.
Miller said Bend Police detectives worked with the FBI and authorities in Texas to determine the caller was also connected to the April 11 swatting incident on SW Taft Avenue in Bend.
On Tuesday, authorities served a search warrant at the home. Miller said officers found child pornography on the juvenile’s computer, as well as evidence that the juvenile had made at least nine swatting calls throughout the country, including the April 11 call in Bend.
In that incident, dispatch received a call to the nonemergency line around 12:17 p.m. The caller reported he had shot someone at a home in the 100 block of SW Taft Avenue and was still in the residence.
Bend Police responded with numerous resources, including armored vehicles. Several area roads were closed during officers’ response. Negotiators spoke on the line with the caller for several minutes, and officers evacuated homes in the immediate area of the reported incident.
Personnel from both the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team and the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Operations Team responded to the scene. Police cleared the home where the alleged shooting had occurred, found no evidence of a crime and determined there was no threat to the public. Bend Police and assisting law enforcement left the scene around 1:30 p.m.
According to the Pennsylvania State Police, a juvenile petition has been filed against the suspect for charges of possession of child pornography, false alarms, false reports, and possession of instruments of a crime. The 17-year-old is lodged at the Bucks County Juvenile Detention Center in Pennsylvania. The investigation is ongoing, Miller said.
"Incidents like this take up a lot of resources,” Miller told NewsChannel 21. “They take up a lot of time and effort. They can be really dangerous for neighborhoods, as well as for officers. And so they're really frustrating, when they turn out not to be real.
“Obviously, we're happy that everybody in our town was safe that day, but it's very frustrating,” she added. “And so it's nice to have a resolution to this, to have somebody who will be held accountable for wasting our officers’ time and our resources.”
Bend Police thanked the Pennsylvania State Police "for its diligent investigation," Miller said in a news release. The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office are expected to handle the cases going forward.
Miller also told NewsChannel 21 the teen "is not connected" to a similar incident in February, when Deschutes County 911 dispatchers received a non-emergency call from a man who said he was at Bend Senior High School with weapons and was going to enter the school. Bend High was placed in "secure" lockout status, as were other high schools. Local and federal authorities continue to investigate that call, which they determined had originated from outside the U.S.
