Swatting call in Salt Lake City neighborhood was a hoax

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City police received a report Thursday morning about a shooting and possible hostage situation. Turns out, the call was fake.

“For us, we are assuming that it’s the worst case scenario, so we’re gonna respond like we train to,” said Sgt. Mark Wian with the Salt Lake City Police Department.

Wian said nearly every officer with the department was sent out to a home near 1400 W. Gillespie Avenue.

Only after getting to the scene, assessing, and in this case, talking with the homeowner, did police learn there was no dangerous situation going down, nor was there a threat to anyone in the home or the public. 

This swatting call follows additional swatting calls that happened last week at West High School and 12 other schools in Utah.

Hoax calls of shooting threats to Utah schools came from out of the country

Now twice in two weeks, Wian said they are seeing these swatting types of situations come from some kind of fabricated call that is made up — whether it is a text 911 or through an online spoof or app.

“These are serious things. We’re putting the community in danger. We’re putting officers at a risk because we’re trying to respond somewhere and get there very quickly,” Wian said.

Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown shared similar sentiments in a Thursday press release.

“These unfounded calls pose significant dangers to our officers and the community,” adding that these situations can result in “significant consequences if the caller is identified.”

Our graveyard patrol officers from across the city handled this incident with professionalism and great care to ensure their safety and the safety of those in this neighborhood.

For all available info, please read our news release:https://t.co/ALRfx5kUZA#SaltLakeCity #SLC… pic.twitter.com/ViKMiJPC5r

— Salt Lake City Police (@slcpd) April 6, 2023