Gamers Use 911 Prank Called ‘Swatting’ to Lash Out at Online Opponents

[KamaAina]

And yes, one of them was in Florida.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/gamers-use-911-prank-called-swatting-to-lash-out-at-97567384414.html

The calls to 911 raised an instant alarm: One caller said he shot his co-workers at a Colorado video game company and had hostages. Another in Florida said her father was drunk, wielding a machine gun and threatening their family. A third caller on New York’s Long Island claimed to have killed his mother and threatened to shoot first responders.

In each case, SWAT teams dispatched to the scene found no violent criminals or wounded victims — only video game players sitting at their computers, the startled victims of a hoax known as “swatting.”

Authorities say the hoax that initially targeted celebrities has now become a way for players of combat-themed video games to retaliate against opponents while thousands of spectators watch. The perpetrators can watch their hijinks unfold minute by minute in a window that shows a live video image of other players....

In Bradenton, Florida, at least 15 officers showed up at the home of a professional video game player on Aug. 31 after a caller posing as his young daughter phoned in a report that he was armed and drunk. Instead, they found him playing Minecraft for a live audience over Twitch.tv, an online network with millions of viewers.

[arcane1]

1. There are professional video game players that people watch?

I had no idea!

[KamaAina]

2. Everyone playing the game can see all the other players

at least, the ones who have cams hooked up.

[Art_from_Ark]

3. Sounds like a good incentive

to unhook one's cam.