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Video footage of a man being ‘swatted’ has surfaced, revealing how the hoax unfolded Wednesday afternoon in Littleton, Colorado, a local ABC News affiliate reported.
Kootra, the gaming handle or nickname for the victim of the prank, was playing online while streaming video of himself when he heard SWAT team operatives searching rooms in his office building.
He knew something was amiss.
“Oh, oh. This isn’t good,” said Kootra, on the youtube clip. “They’re clearing rooms. What in the world. I think we are getting swatted.”
Police then burst through the door, guns drawn, yelling at Kootra to get down on the ground.
“Put your hands up! Put your hands up! Get on the ground!” officers shout to a reeling Kootra, as he begins to follow their directives.
Shortly thereafter, police begin to search Kootra to ensure he is unarmed, which causes him to chuckle.
An officer sternly asks, “What about this is funny to you?”
“What? I’m not doing anything that is funny,” Kootra replies.
Later in the day, the Littleton Police Department released a statement about the incident.
“The caller claimed to have shot two co-workers, held others hostage, and threatened to shoot them. He stated that if the officers entered he would shoot them as well,” said the LPD.
“There were no victims or any evidence that a shooting had taken place,” the statement continued. “If the investigation determines that today’s incident was a hoax, those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone besides me notice that the cops shut down the streaming feed? Here we have a situation where they are (theoretically at least) operating completely within the law and all applicable department policies, yet they still shut down the feed to hide what they were doing.
OK, what are the cops feeling guilty about that they don’t want people to see? There is something inherently wrong with the scenario.
This crap is out of hand! These kids are playing games with real people. People who are trained to shoot you! Why would anyone want to do something like this? And it’s getting worse. In my opinion anyone who creates one of these disturbances should face no less then ten years in a federal prison. No less then ten and if the situation GFB get’s any one hurt in any way, Heart attack…Falling down, you get my drift. Then the offense is a 20 year sentence. By time they get out the gaming industries will hopefully be gone. Reporting a crime in this manner is a felony offense and the perpetrators should be dealt with extreme measures. I do not care how old they are! They can be ten as far as I’m concerned and my opinion still holds.
What’s the matter with you guys?
Did all this blow your minds?
All the conclusion jumping and scared hate for the police is not necessary.
I saw nothing wrong with what happened except for maybe the dunce who called the cops.
DaveGinOly, nobody mentioned pointing guns or being ready to shoot innocent people.
Sounded to me like the police did exactly what I would want them to do.
They were very smart, composed and displayed professionalism
It also sounded like the gamer was smart and complied so as to not cause further alarm.
Like I said, except for the “Chicken Little” call, it all sounds just fine to me.
I would have shook the cops hands for a job well done.
The immaturity of these “gamers” is astounding. Come out of your virtual world and get some oxygen to your brain.
This proves that the vast majority of police are neanderthal, pea brained idiots ! If you go into a room and see a guy sitting at a desk, with a computer headset on, with nobody else in the room whatsoever, it would be safe to say that just asking him to hold his hands up would be more than sufficient for the officer’s safety….. There were no hostages, no guns, or anything else in that room that would suggest a hostage situation, or a standoff in any way…..
When will common sense be a requirement for police to be hired ?? ? ? Jeeez….. It is sad to live in a country where police act like idiots, with their Rambo, shoot first and ask questions later mentality…. They LOVE throwing people to the ground, cuffing them and roughing them up, and it needs to stop ! Don’t they get enough real bad apples to rough up? Were these guys bullied as kids, and just became cops to try and bully others ? It is insane these days….
Isn’t Littleton where the first heavily publicized school shooting took place back in the 80’s or 90’s? Of course the police would go in heavy handed. They didn’t want a repeat. And no, I don’t approve of everything the police or government does, but let’s be reasonable. Nobody wants another repeat of that or any other event.
Although an argument can be made that the police were justified in their use of arms in this situation, my counter-argument is that when the police threaten with deadly force everyone at the scene of a purported shooting, they are not performing their primary function (the safeguarding of the lives of the people they serve). Rather, they are performing a secondary responsibility – ensuring their own safety. The safety of the police is secondary (at best) to the safety of the people they serve. This instance, which appears to be a hoax, is particularly illustrative of why this kind of police approach is wrong – they threatened the lives of everyone they pointed their weapons at when 1.) there was no real threat to neutralize, 2.) they were never actually in danger themselves, and 3.) the people at the work place where never in danger except when the police pointed weapons at them.
In these situations, weapons can be carried at the ready without actually being pointed at anyone. As potential threats are evaluated, the decision can be made at that point whether or not to actually cover the potential threat with a firearm. Although this entails a slight delay, and may elevate the risk to officers, it eliminates entirely the threat posed by the officers themselves to the innocent parties they encounter at the scene of an incident. Weapons pointed at everyone at the scene, when nearly everyone at any scene is, in fact, an innocent citizen, presents a real threat of deadly force to all of those people, in direct contravention to the purpose of the very existence of police forces – the protection of the lives of those in the community they serve. “Going home at the end of their shifts” is not the primary duty of police officers.
I see the first comment to this story says “people have been killed in similar incidents,” meaning that people have been killed by police in such incidents (because there is no other person threatening deadly force in swatting incidents). That such a thought would come to mind immediately to a reader, I think, bolsters my argument. It is unacceptable for police to present a threat of deadly force to innocent citizens, no matter the situation, because it is unacceptable for police to kill innocent citizens, even by accident, and even less so by poor judgment and/or improper training or techniques.
Police are NOT there to protect people…..get that out of your head! And I don’t CARE what they write on the sides of their cars!!
They are there to stop crime and catch criminals.
“They are there to stop crime”
Well ron, I have to argue with you on this one. They are notorious for showing up after a crime has been committed.
THAT is how they’re supposed to protect us, by stopping crime and catching criminals. Threatening innocent people with lethal force at the scene of an incident does not “stop crime” nor does it “catch criminals.” What is does do is unnecessarily put at risk the lives of the citizens the police are supposed to be serving (by stopping crime and catching criminals).
Where do YOU live? The police aren’t there to stop crime. They’re there to preserve order. When a crime occurs, the police almost always arrive well after the fact. Most of what police “catch” aren’t crimes at all, but regulatory violations. Regulatory violations are mostly what people get in trouble for. These are not “crimes”. These are offenses like jaywalking, failure to pay a parking meter, driving on expired tags: regulations that are intended for an orderly society. In many cases, regulatory violations don’t ensure anything except added revenue for a municipality, like putting variable speed limits on a stretch of a state route that usually runs at 50 mph (35 mph for a hundred feet, 15 mph for another fifty feet, 25 mph…a set of speed limits designed so that no matter what you do, you’re breaking the law.). Police don’t stop crime. They investigate after the fact, and sometimes they catch the offender. Usually, they just run around harassing people who are minding their own business because they know nobody can defend themselves from the cops.
the cops are going into a situation mostly blind. or with the scant information provided by a frantic caller(s).
They, for their own safety, as well as yours, must presume that the threat(s) could be lurking anywhere.
Recently, a good Samaritan was shot by the perps accomplice, from behind, by a innocuous looking woman, no less… Take some time to consider the personal risk LEOs take to keep the public peace…
Obviously the police go into dangerous situations. They do not make the situation better for the victims when they point loaded weapons at them. Pointing a loaded weapon is a lethal threat. Should the police present lethal threats to innocent parties at the scene of an incident? Absolutely not, esp. when appropriate techniques can eliminate the unnecessary threat and still be mission-oriented. In a building with dozens (if not hundreds) of people inside, and (maybe) one or two actual criminals, it just doesn’t make sense to expose everyone in the building to a lethal threat during a search for the suspect(s). The use of “the stack” and covering every potential target with firearms are military techniques, suitable for a combat zone, where there’s a high degree of probability that everyone you meet is an enemy. In a domestic incident, there is no “enemy” (only criminal suspects – and in this story there wasn’t even one of those), and it is likely that almost everyone the police encounter are not threats. The use of military techniques is inappropriate in domestic policing situations. People worry about the military gear domestic police forces have acquired, but with the use of suitable techniques, the most deadly equipment in the world can be safely employed in a domestic environment. On the other hand, ordinary police weapons (sidearms and shotguns) can be employed with inappropriate military techniques, and this inappropriate use of those techniques can raise the level of lethal threat to innocent people at the scene of an incident. It is entirely inappropriate for the police to introduce a raised level of threat to innocent people at the scene of an incident – it’s diametrically opposed to the purpose for the existence of domestic police forces.
well written and thought through all point are quit true
Since people have been killed in similar incidents, attempted murder charges are applicable.
Whoever called the police with the fake report should be hung [sic] to the fullest extent of the law. T’aint funny, McGee.
Knowing Littleton PD, they will find a way to make this a Federal case, so the perp will do hard time in a Fed pen. They are so heavy-handed, that they make Denver Metro look like flower children. Littleton PD strive everyday to perfect their LAPD-style beatdowns. I wonder how many J-walking beatdowns they have accomplished this month?