A prank caller diverted resources from five county law enforcement agencies by reporting a fake shooting on Thursday in New Whiteland.
About 2:50 p.m., a male caller reported he had shot his wife and his 11-year-old son, said Joe Rynerson, New Whiteland police chief.
The caller further stated he was in his house in the 50 block of Parkview Drive and wasn’t coming out, Rynerson said.
At the scene, police tried to send a signal to the caller’s phone, but it was not on site. They then made contact with the homeowner and found out there was just one person inside, an adult female, he said.
Police searched the home and garage and found only the adult female, Rynerson said.
The prank call created the potential for serious consequences, Rynerson said.
This type of prank call is known as swatting, or a call to 911 to report a fake emergency. Swatting creates a false emergency serious enough to prompt a response from the SWAT Team, which come with guns and shields, prepared for anything and on high alert.
There have been multiple swatting incidents around the country where these types of calls ended in death by a medical emergency, or from a police-involved shooting.
It is not common locally but it has happened in Johnson County. This is the first time it has happened in New Whiteland, Rynerson said.
New Whiteland was assisted by Clark-Pleasant police, the Whiteland Police Department, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the county’s joint SWAT Team and a negotiator from the Franklin Police Department
“They got all of our resources out there. It is a waste of our taxpayer money for what amounts to a prank call,” Rynerson said.
Police plan to investigate and find out who placed the call, he said. That information will then be forwarded to the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office to decide what, if any, charges to file.
There are state and federal laws regarding the false reporting of a crime, depending on the origin of the call. In Indiana, it could mean up to a year in jail and up to $5,000 in fines.
