With the advent and quick rise to popularity that video game streaming and the esports scene has had over the years, one of the biggest problems facing it has been swatting.For those who don’t know, “swatting” is essentially a hoax that involves calling the police and telling them that there is a dangerous situation taking place at an address. Generally, the hoax is made to be as dangerous as possible so that the cops investigate using heavily armored personnel. Now, it seems as if one of these incidents has led to a man being shot and killed by police in Kansas after authorities were incorrectly told he was holding someone hostage.
According to The Wichita Eagle, a 28-year-old man was shot after they received a call saying that there had been an argument in the home and someone was killed. The police were also told that the man in the home was holding his family hostage, and when they got to the home, the man was shot and killed.
After the incident, it came to light that the reason behind the police investigation was a Call of Duty wager gone wrong. According to Dextero, two players reportedly got into an argument over a $2 (yes, $2) wager. After the money match ended, the players began to apparently threaten to swat each other, with one of the players sending out an incorrect address to a known swatter. This led to the police investigating the home and subsequently shooting the innocent man. P
Professional Call of Duty player Chris “Parasite” Duarte has seemingly confirmed the event in a series of Tweets, explaining the situation as best he could.
https://t.co/ZCTqzucWwnhttps://t.co/FC0hyrUPwh
— Chris (@Parasite) December 29, 2017
The cops didn’t say right away if the original report that led to the investigation was meant to be a prank, but Deputy Police Chief Troy Livingston did say it’s something they will be looking into. More information will be released by police sometime today, so expect an update should more relevant facts come out.
[Source: The Wichita Eagle, Dextero]
