Jordan Mathewson, AKA Kootra to his online video-gaming mates, was left slack-jawed – as well as thrown face-down onto the floor of his Littleton, Colorado apartment, when cops busted into his place in the middle of a live-streaming video match.
Yup. Live-streaming. As in, the entire takedown was broadcast live to the world, or at least to his competitors online at the time. (The rest of the world can now see it on YouTube!)
As the BBC reports, Mathewson was playing Counter-Strike when officers came into the room and arrested him, although he was later released without charges:
Officers said they were now trying to trace what they believed was a hoax call, possibly targeting the gamer.
The caller claimed to have shot two co-workers, held others hostage, and threatened to shoot them. He stated that if the officers entered he would shoot them as well, the Littleton Police Department said in a statement.
There were no victims or any evidence that a shooting had taken place.
If the investigation determines that today s incident was a hoax, those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Police, obviously, were not amused. You can see it in their faces, live and streaming. (Mathewson, on the other hand, looked slightly amused, as if somehow he had sensed something was about to go down.)
Apparently, the coppers may have been victims in their own right. There s reportedly a new trend out there called Swatting, in which pranksters call in bogus emergency cries for help and the SWAT team is dispatched.
Swatting is a growing issue for police in the US, in which hoax calls are made with the intention of sounding serious enough to provoke the SWAT – Special Weapons And Tactics – team into deployment.
Several cases of disgruntled gamers making hoax calls have been reported this year. Littleton police warned that hoaxes could have serious consequences.
According to the post, here s how it all played out:
As is popular with many gamers, Mr. Mathewson had been live-streaming his game online.
At one point, Mr. Mathewson told people listening that he thought the building was being swatted .
Moments later, several armed officers enter the room, shouting and ordering Mr Mathewson to the ground where he is handcuffed.
The full video of the incident, which contains strong language and video game violence, was posted on YouTube.
In it, Mr Mathewson can be heard telling police: I m sitting there playing a game, people are watching it, and I guess a joker thought it would be funny to call you guys in.
So what was the reaction of his fellow gamers as the faux-bust unfolded? The BBC said the game continued without Mathewson.
Credit: article.wn.com
