Mount Prospect Police Department officers responded Tuesday afternoon to hoax call that was involved a false report of a “person shot” at a resident on Wille Street near Shabonee Trail in a neighborhood of single-family homes just south of downtown Mount Prospect.
Mount Prospect Police Department police officers released a summary at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday that revealed that police officers from Mount Prospect responded about 2:51 p.m. Tuesday, January 17, 2023 to a 9-1-1 call reporting a person shot in a residence in the 500 block of South Wille Street. Officers arrived quickly to the area and began investigating the call. Police officers were able to make telephone contact with the homeowner, who was not at home. Police were quickly able to determine that the 911 call was a hoax and an incident of “swatting”. Officers conducted a thorough search of the home and did not locate anyone injured or shot. Mount Prospect Police Officers were able to determine there was no threat to the safety of the community.
Several witnesses reported seeing police officers in the neighborhood with guns drawn, and using ballistic shields while surrounding a house on Wille Street south of Shabonee Trail.
“Swatting” is the act of creating a hoax 911 call typically involving acts of extreme violence to bring about a large police response to an unsuspecting person’s residence. Swatting is a deliberate and malicious act that creates an environment of fear and unnecessary risk.
Swatting, which abuses the 9-1-1 system, is similar to spoofing, which abuses the general phone system by generating a false caller ID number. While not abusing the 9-1-1 system, criminals can also spoof Caller ID numbers over the general phone network, pretending to be a business, government entity, friend or relative. For example, a criminal could pretend to be the gas company or electric company, to attempt to accept a fraudulent bill payment while displaying the actual gas company or electric company phone number on your Caller ID display. Unfortunately, technological resources available to anyone allow swatting and spoofing capabilities. Spoofing that abuses the phone system is specifically known as Caller ID spoofing. There are other types of spoofing that involve domain name imposters, emails (false sender information), and false geolocation reporting.
At this time, the Mount Prospect “swatting” call incident appears to have been placed from a person located in a different state. Investigators are continuing to investigate this hoax 911 call and ask anyone with any information that might assist in identifying and locating the offender in this incident to please call the Investigative Unit at 847-870-5654.
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