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LAPD Fears Someone Will Die If Celeb 'Swatting' Pranks Continue
Photo: stevelyon/Flickr
Who will be the next L.A.-dwelling celeb to be the target of a "swatting" prank? While you may have your theories, the Los Angeles Police Department are less concerned with where it will happen and more focused on what they see as the likelihood the pranks could turn fatal.According to a law enforcement source who is spilling to TMZ, the LAPD believes "it's only a matter of time before an innocent person is mistaken for a phantom shooter and gets shot to death," if these pranks keep up.
Another scenario police fear is that other Angelenos in need of emergency aid will be left waiting--perhaps to die--while cops and other first responders are at the scene of a "swatting."
The FBI came up with the term "swatting" a few years ago to describe a deliberate phony distress call that results in the police sending out the SWAT team. In L.A. it has been done recently to Miley Cyrus and Ashton Kutcher at their homes, and, in the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, at Justin Bieber's Calabasas pad.
The LAPD say they are continuing to investigate the Cyrus and Kutcher incidents, and are using "electronic footprints left by the people making the prank calls" as well as information provided by neighbors who may have seen the pranksters scoping things out in order to catch the perps behind these crimes.
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