'Swatting' Call Draws Swarm Of Cops In McHenry County
(WBBM Newsradio) -- Police in McHenry County are trying to determine who called in a phony hostage-taking incident Tuesday night.
McHenry County Sheriff Bill Prim says the caller to the North East Regional Communications Center gave a person's name, said he was holding three people hostage on the 2800 block of North Magellan Drive, near McHenry, demanded a ransom and threatened to shoot people.
Then he hung up, Prim said in a news release.
Deputies quickly responded to the home following the 10:19 p.m. call to 9-1-1. Over the next two hours, police found the named person at another address and determined he had not made the call. They also contacted the family that lives in the Magellan Drive home and determined all were safe.
Fifteen sheriff's deputies and Johnsburg police officers were involved in the response.
Prim says such calls are "not amusing" and the caller, if found, faces criminal charges.
"An unarmed man in Wichita, Kan., was shot and killed during a similar accident late last year," Prim said. "Meanwhile, while chasing a hoax, officers are unable to answer calls to real emergencies."