A gamer using the Twitch video service apparently caught the moment an armed police SWAT team burst through his office door while searching for an active shooter in Littleton, Colorado on Wednesday.
Officers were conducting a search of office buildings after receiving a phone call about a shooter, but now suspect the report was false, according to The Denver Channel. As one man found out — a gamer named Jordan Mathewson who plays under the pseudonym "Kootra"— the search may have been the result of a prank known as "Swatting."
"Uh oh, this isn't good," he says in the video, which is on YouTube. "They're clearing rooms. What in the world? I think we're getting swatted."
"Swatting" is a prank often used by cybercriminals to harass a target, by reporting nefarious activity like a hostage situation or active shooter at a person's location with the goal of getting a police SWAT team to respond and arrest them. It's not exactly a lighthearted prank, as sending in police officers who think they may encounter an armed suspect can be very dangerous.
At the time, Mathewson was playing the online first-person shooter game "Counterstrike" and streaming it live as others watched him on Twitch. The video was apparently captured inside the offices of The Creatures LLC, where police officers burst through the door with weapons aimed at him and order him to the ground.
Really jacked up. This is the scene atm. Still no sign of @kootrapic.twitter.com/wwuogioq1p
— James (@UberHaxorNova) August 27, 2014He is handcuffed and searched. After finding nothing, officers pick him up and let him sit in a chair while questioning him. Aside from the office building where Mathewson was, schools and other businesses in the Littleton area were placed on lockdown for about 30 minutes, The Denver Channel reported.
Mathewson tweeted after it was all over:
Dag nabbit that was dern sure an experience. I am all Ok though. Thanks for all the supportive tweets everyone
— Kootra (@Kootra) August 27, 2014Here's the video: