LEWISTON, Idaho – A prank caller on the other side of the country reported a murder that didn’t happen in Lewiston, Idaho, prompting police to send a SWAT team to an unsuspecting resident’s home.
The dangerous practice is called “Swatting,” and perpetrators can face serious charges for the fake calls.
Lewiston police said they received a call at 12:27 a.m. on Jan. 2 that a man “had just shot his girlfriend in the face and she was dead in the home, the caller also stated children were in the home with him,” police said in a press release on Thursday.
The Lewiston Police Department SWAT team and investigations division went to the home and learned the residents were safe.
Investigators discovered that the phone call originated from a suspect in the eastern U.S.
The case is under active investigation and will be transferred to a different jurisdiction, police said.