Online Gaming May Have Led To Homer Glen Swatting Call: Sheriff

HOMER GLEN, IL — A 911 call reporting a purported murder and hostage situation in Homer Glen Saturday turned out to be a hoax allegedly perpetrated by an online gamer, the Will County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.

Sheriff’s deputies were called Saturday to a home on West Beaver Den Trail in Homer Glen just after 10:30 p.m., after a male caller told dispatchers he had just shot his grandmother in the head, and was pointing his gun at two other family members, Will County Sheriff's Office said. The caller also said that he had someone held hostage, before hanging up.

Deputies at the scene set up a perimeter, and attempted to call all known numbers for the address, with no success. Deputies also made contact with a neighbor, who stated that they did not hear any gunfire, and that no grandmother lived next door.

Several deputies then approached the home and spoke with the owner, who said there was no shooting inside the home, and she was unaware of what deputies were talking about, the sheriff's department said. She stated that her family was all sleeping until one of the children woke up to police at the door.

Deputies entered the home and confirmed that there was no emergency or shooting.

While speaking to the family, deputies learned that one family member had been playing an online video game around the same time the fraudulent caller contacted the Sheriff’s Office and gave them false information.

The family member believes that the caller, most likely, was playing the same video game and somehow used his URL to make the hoax phone call. Police have labeled the call a swatting incident.