Tactical Units Respond To South End Apartment After Hoax Call
BOSTON (CBS) - The call to Boston Police dispatch was enough to send tactical units to Worcester Square in the South End. Someone inside an apartment claiming he had killed his family and would harm himself.
"Just seeing cops, they had guns out, when the SWAT people showed up with big shields it look like something heavy duty was going down," said Alex Gutierrez.
The call originated in Florida from someone claiming he received a text from the man who was threatening. Boston Police didn't know what was behind the door at number 37 where the caller claimed the person was armed. The name of the resident supposedly inside also didn't match up.
It turns out it was Lisa George's apartment who was contacted by police. "They waited for me to get here with keys instead of breaking my doors down which I appreciate. It's very scary and unnerving, of course," said George.
In the end it was all a prank with no one found to be armed inside. But it had hearts racing for awhile. "I didn't know what was happening," said Margot Burns. "I didn't know if it was safe to be on the street or where we should go."
Boston Police say they have to take every precaution with a disturbing call like that, but there's anger with the prankster. "It's not funny, it's definitely a waste of resources that scared the neighbors and inconvenienced people who live nearby," said Gutierrez.
Boston Police say they are in the process of tracing the hoax call.