NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Officers in Norfolk swarmed a home along Wedgewood Drive just after 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. It was a police presence so large, 10 On Your Side went there to see what was going on. Turns out, it was a false alarm.
No one was arrested and no one is facing any charges stemming from this, and police later confirmed to 10 On Your Side that this was a false call and cleared as unfounded. Our photojournalist on scene spoke off-camera with the family, who told us their child was doing a livestream and mistakenly said their address online. The family said a livestream viewer then called the police on their home.
That’s defined as swatting, “a malicious act that can involve placing false emergency calls to emergency responders, often reporting a (false) severe, ongoing crisis at a specific location,” with a goal “to provoke a significant law enforcement response, creating chaos and potentially resulting in violence,” according to the Department of Homeland Security…