14-year-old boy charged in Regina-first ‘swatting’ incident

Regina’s acting police chief warned the public ‘swatting’ is not a harmless prank, after the police service dealt with its first such call in the fall.

“These are real people, real victims who, through no fault of their own, are being put into a high-risk and scary situation. It’s not acceptable,” said Acting Chief Lorilee Davies in a news release.

Swatting involves making a call to police about a fake emergency, trying to bring armed police to bear on a particular home or person.

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According to Regina police, a call came in late in the evening on Sept. 19 about a woman who’d been hurt in a gun incident at a home in southwest Regina. The call also said another person and a suspect were still in the home.

Police said that, because of the nature of the call, the Tactical Support Unit, also referred to as the SWAT team, was sent to the home.

The officers got there, broke open the door to get inside and searched the home. As a result of the entry, police said a woman had minor injuries.

Once all was said and done, police said only two people were found in the home, neither of whom matched the description in the report. They found there was no credible gun threat there.

Now, a 14-year-old boy in Regina is being charged with public mischief for allegedly making the call. He cannot be publicly named as he’s under 18.

Regina police said this was the first ‘swatting’ incident its had to deal with.