Swatting Incident Tuesday At Homer Glen Home: Sheriff

HOMER GLEN, IL — A "swatting incident" was the cause of a disturbance on Mallard Lane in Homer Glen on Tuesday, Will County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Kathy Hoffmeyer told Patch. Swatting is a term used to describe when a hoax phone call is used to report serious crimes to police.

Dispatch was called at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday by a man who said he was holding his wife hostage and was going "to do a bad thing" at the Homer Glen home. The man told dispatch he had shot his wife, and would hurt anyone who responded to the home, according to the sheriff's office.

SWAT members and Will County Sheriff deputies responded to the call and set up a perimeter as negotiators attempted to contact the residents, the sheriff's office said.

Police spoke to a neighbor, who said he never heard gunfire. Deputies at the perimeter could see into the home and saw residents inside tending to normal activities, the sheriff's office said.

Contact was made with the residents at the front door, who said they were fine. Police did a search of the home, and nothing was out of the ordinary, the sheriff's office said.

"It was determined that this was a swatting incident," Hoffmeyer said. "Earlier, the couple’s grandson had been playing video games online when the hoax phone call was made to 911."