Police swarm home after 12-year-old’s bogus 911 call, California cops say

A 12-year-old boy called 911 Tuesday night to report his mother had just shot his father in the head and was hiding in a bathroom with a gun, police say.

But as SWAT officers prepared to storm the Santa Rosa home, police contacted the unaware family inside to learn nothing was amiss, California police said in a news release.

Police tracked down the 12-year-old, who had made the bogus 911 call from a cell phone, and arrested him on suspicion of false report of a criminal offense.

“This obviously was a drain on resources for the city while it lasted and had the potential to cause other hazards for officers not involved in the incident, due to the drain on resources,” police wrote in the release.

“It also created a dangerous situation for the occupants of the apartment in question and the surrounding residences,” police said in the release.

The boy, who wasn’t related to the family involved. called 911 with the false report at 9 p.m. and told dispatchers he’d be waiting outside the apartment for police, officers reported. But when police arrived no one was there and the caller’s cell phone had been disconnected.

Firefighters and ambulances also responded, and police organized a SWAT team to enter the apartment because of the severity of the reported incident, the release says.

Dispatchers were able to reach the family inside the apartment, which had been unaware of the police activity outside, the release says. Police instructed the family to come outside, where officers determined no crime had taken place.

The fake “swatting” call tied up 15 officers for 45 minutes, police said. Dispatchers tracked the fake call and several other prank 911 calls to the 12-year-old, leading to his arrest, the release says.

The boy, who police did not name because of his age, was released to the custody of his parents.

This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Police swarm home after 12-year-old’s bogus 911 call, California cops say."