EDEN, N.C. — A fake 911 call led to an investigation at a home in Eden Wednesday, according to police.
It started at 8:24 p.m.
Rockingham County Communications said they received a call from a man who said he had shot his mother and stabbed his younger sister. He then allegedly told communications his name was Alex, and he was located on Westwood Drive.
As officers were being dispatched, he said he barricaded himself inside the home and intended to shoot police officers if they knocked on the door.
When officers arrived, they secured the area and evacuated neighbors.
Officers discovered that no one was inside the house.
The people who live there were not in town and were unaware of the incident that was unfolding at their home. Police did say they were actively filming a Tik Tok live video at the time the calls began coming in and are looking into if that played a role.
The Eden Police Department said it feels confident this was a “swatting” hoax.
Swatting is a term used to describe the action of making hoax phone calls to report serious crimes to emergency services. People who carry out a swatting prank call aim to fool emergency services into sending a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to respond to the supposed emergency.
The department did say during the past two weeks, there have been several of these incidents reported across the country. They are still investigating.
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