Authorities speak out after Marine City swatting incident: "It's dangerous for everyone"

Law enforcement officers say their departments have to respond to calls as they come, and they don't always have time to vet whether a call is legitimate or fake.

"You're going to see a flood of police to that location," said Captain Chauncey Shattuck with the Ingham County Sheriff's Office. 

A flood of law enforcement was what downtown Marine City saw on Sunday evening. According to the Marine City Police Department, St. Clair County dispatch got a high-priority call about a hostage situation and a gunman. But after police arrived and used high-tech tools to survey the area, they found the call was a hoax, or swatting, and no victims were in danger. 

"It's dangerous for everyone, for us, for the public," Shattuck said. "Obviously, we're professionals, and we do a very good job of responding these incidents in a safe manner, but it's still, it's still dangerous." 

Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy said police departments do their best to screen calls for legitimacy, and checking a few basic things can help. 

"For example, [if] there's a five-car pile-up at the intersection of Grand River and Latson in Genoa Township, we will receive multiple, multiple calls on that within 30 seconds. The swatting calls tend not to be that way," said Murphy. 

Authorities say the way a call comes in and the language the caller uses are also clues that first responders use to determine if the call is legit. But it's not always easy to catch a swatting call.

"It's no different than the financial scams that we see where somebody makes a phone call, and somebody makes a wire transfer, Murphy said. By the time we are able to locate where that came from, pretty much they've closed up and moved on." 

Michigan Attorney General Nessel says anyone accused of being involved in a swatting incident could face a misdemeanor charge of false report of a crime and/or felony charges of false report resulting in physical injury, false report resulting in death and false report resulting in serious bodily impairment.

Anyone who is accused of making a threat of violence could face a misdemeanor charge of malicious use of a telecommunications device and/or two felony charges of communicating a threat of terrorism and calling a bomb threat.

In addition to the charges, the suspects could also receive a fine of up to $20,000.

"Swatting is not harmless," said Nessel said in a statement. "It is a serious crime that can lead to dangerous situations and divert law enforcement away from someone facing an actual emergency. What callers may believe to be a 'joke' actually risks the public safety of our communities and can carry lifelong consequences for those responsible."