Sgt. Gorrell, of the Loudonville Police Department said, “On 04/15/2023, at approximately 10:15 in the morning, the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office received a call on the Loudonville Police line. A male told our dispatchers that he shot his wife and was holding his child hostage. He said that he resides on East Bustle Street, in Loudonville. He told dispatch that he poured gasoline all over the house and he is not playing.”
The Loudonville Police responded to the area and called for additional assistance. Ashland County Sheriff’s Deputies, Holmes County Sheriff’s Deputies, and additional Loudonville Police Officers arrived on scene. After a thorough investigation, it was determined that this was a " SWATTING” type of situation.
This means that it was a hoax call to law enforcement.
“Further investigation will be conducted to determine if the caller can be identified and held accountable for making the false report.” Sgt. Gorrell commented, “A law was recently signed that makes this crime a felony of the fourth degree and raises the penalty to a felony of the second degree if anyone is seriously injured as a result of these reckless acts. No one was injured during this incident.”
Wikipedia Reports Swatting as Follows:
“Swatting is a criminal harassment tactic of deceiving an emergency service (via such means as hoaxing an emergency services dispatcher) into sending a police or emergency service response team to another person's address. This is triggered by false reporting of a serious law enforcement emergency, such as a bomb threat, murder, hostage situation, or a false report of a mental health emergency, such as reporting that a person is allegedly suicidal or homicidal and may or may not be armed, among other things.
The term is derived from the law enforcement unit "SWAT" (special weapons and tactics), a specialized type of police unit in the United States. These units are equipped with tactical gear and weapons that differ from patrol units, and are called to situations that are deemed high-risk. A threat may result in the evacuations of schools and businesses. Advocates have called for swatting to be described as terrorism due to its use to intimidate and create the risk of injury or death.
Making false reports to emergency services is a criminal offense in many jurisdictions, often punishable by fine or imprisonment. In March 2019, a California man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for carrying out a fatal 2017 swatting. Swatting carries a high risk of violence, and causes resources to be wasted by the city or county when responding to a false report of a serious law enforcement emergency, as well as liability if things go wrong. In California, swatters bear the "full cost" of the response which can lead to fines up to $10,000 if great bodily injury or death occur as a result of the swatting.”
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