Manitoba RCMP are reporting that an 18-year-old Peguis First Nation man has been arrested and charged in connection to a number of recent swatting incidents in the United States.
On August 17, 2021, the Manitoba RCMP East District Crime Reduction Enforcement Support Team (CREST) received a request to assist law enforcement agencies in the United States. These agencies included the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security.
The request for assistance was in relation to two “swatting” incidents that occurred in Tennessee and two that occurred in North Carolina.
“Swatting” is the practice of making a phone call falsely describing a life-threatening situation in order to provoke an armed police response.
The police departments reported receiving a 911 call, on separate dates, from a male advising he was inside a school with a firearm and was going to start shooting. In both cases, the schools were placed on lock down and a large number of police officers, including SWAT officers, attended.
These situations created dangerous circumstances for the public and responding emergency response personnel. The calls were later found to be false.
The initial investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation determined that the phone calls originated from a number registered to a residence in Manitoba. Further investigation by the RCMP and Winnipeg Police Service determined that the residence was located on the Fisher River Cree Nation.
On August 30, 2021, officers attended the residence and executed a search warrant resulting in a number of electronic items being seized.
RCMP report that an 18-year-old male was arrested at the residence. The suspect was taken into custody and later released for a court date scheduled later this year on the Peguis First Nation, Manitoba.
