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Police in North Carolina are searching for the person they say is responsible for a "swatting" call that sent authorities to a family's home earlier this week.
The Burke County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call just before 2 p.m. Tuesday (January 4) from an individual claiming to have just shot their parents with an AK-47 at a Morganton residence, WSOC reports. While attempting to get more information, the caller reportedly told the 911 dispatcher, "I don't know if I can take it anymore," before ending the call.
When deputies arrived at the residence, they found that everyone inside was safe and determined that the call was an example of a dangerous trend called "swatting."
"Swatting is a criminal harassment tactic of deceiving an emergency service (via such means as hoaxing an emergency services dispatcher) into sending a police and emergency service response team to another person's address," the sheriff's department wrote on its official Facebook page. "This is triggered by false reporting of a serious law enforcement emergency, such as a bomb threat, murder, hostage situation, or a false report of a 'mental health' emergency, such as reporting that a person is allegedly suicidal or homicidal and may or may not be armed."
The sheriff's office continued, "This criminal caller creates risk for the traveling public as the emergency services of law enforcement, EMS, and other first responders are dispatched and travel to the scene as quickly as possible to render aid. This criminal act can negatively impact the ability for sufficient emergency personnel to be available to respond to legitimate calls of service for children, adults and the elderly whose well-being and life may be put in jeopardy."
Anyone with information regarding the caller's identity is encouraged to call the Burke County Sheriff's Office at 828-438-5500 or send an anonymous tip to the Morganton/Burke Crimestoppers at 828-437-3333.