Swatter Draws Huge Police Response, Threatens To Shoot Victim In Head

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — A resident was shocked when officers arrived at his home Thursday afternoon after Palos Heights police received a call that he was being held at gun point. Police quickly determined that it was a swat call.

Around 1 p.m., DuPage Public Safety Communications transferred to Southwest Central 911 from a frantic caller stating that her father was being held at gunpoint.

“An unknown caller had reached out to a family member of the alleged victim,” said Chief Bill Czajkowski, of the Palos Heights Police Department. “The caller said they had the woman’s father and were going to shoot him in the head unless they paid a ransom.”

Police were unable to contact the woman’s father. The initial call to the daughter came through on her father's number that had apparently been spoofed.

“We think the call came from a person, not [computer generated],” Czajkowski said. “Someone was screaming in the background. We have to approach these things like they’re legitimate.”

As SWAT officers mobilized in front of the home, officers determined that the man was fine.

“We got him to come out of the house and determined that the call was not legitimate,” the chief said. “In fact, the resident was fine and shocked to learn of the call from police.”

Swatting is a criminal harassment act of deceiving an emergency service into sending a police or emergency service response team to another person's address. Reports of ransomware gangs implementing new extortion tactics to coerce victims to pay up are on the rise, in which

Czajkowski said it was the first time he heard of a swat call in which a ransom was demanded. It was not known if a ransom had been paid.

“We will investigate this incident, but at this time there is no danger to our residents,” he said. “Our men and women did a great job.”

Palos Heights police were assisted by Chicago Ridge, Crestwood and Palos Hills police departments, as well as the 5th District SWAT Team.