La Crescenta Teens Fall Victim To 'Swatting' Prank

LA CRESCENTA, CA – Two teens playing video games fell victim to a "swatting" prank Saturday night. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department received a call at approximately 9 p.m. on Saturday night from an unknown person, saying they had just shot their parents and were about to shoot their aunt, NBC Los Angeles reported.

The person provided a La Crescenta address, but when deputies made contact with the parents who live at the home, they learned the two teens were completely unaware of what was going on, the news station reported.

The parents contacted the teenagers and told them to leave the house, and deputies temporarily detained them before searching the home and figuring out it was a swatting call, NBC reported.

The swatting prank has made headlines in recent years – even celebrities like Justin Bieber and Ashton Kutcher have been targeted. The prank involves calling 911 operators that are close to their victims, frequently using caller ID to conceal their true location, then reporting severely dangerous situations that would warrant a SWAT team response, according to NPR.

The goal is to surprise their victims with a full-force police response at their home, and the prank is most well-known in video gaming communities, where participants use it as a form of revenge, the news station reported.

Activist teen David Hogg also fell victim to the prank in June, according to Business Insider. But sometimes, it turns deadly. Earlier this year, a man from LA was charged with involuntary manslaughter after swatting a video game streamer that he got into a fight with over a $1.50 bet in "Call of Duty" – who was killed by law enforcement as a result of the prank, the news website reported.

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