CLINTON, Ill. (WMBD) — The Clinton Police Department was involved in a swatting incident Friday.
According to a Clinton police Facebook post, Officers were called to a residence at approximately 2:41 p.m. after they received an emergency call of a violent act in progress, which led to an emergency response from local law enforcement.
After the response concluded, the circumstances of the response were deemed unfounded, and further investigation led police to believe this was a swatting incident.
“Swatting” is a criminal harassment tactic of deceiving emergency services into sending police to another person’s address, school, or business. This is often triggered by falsely reporting a bomb threat, murder, or hostage situation.
“This trend is an extremely dangerous and sometimes life-endangering prank that places first responders and the general public at great risk,” Chief Ben Lowers said. “We are thankful of the outcome in this matter and extremely grateful for the outpouring of support and prompt response from the assisting agencies.”
This incident remains under investigation.
Clinton police, the Dewitt County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois State Police and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Police all responded to this incident.
