Online pranksters attempting to target a Twitch streamer by sending armed police to her door inadvertently sent law enforcement to the home of her grandparents, it has emerged.
"Swatting" is just about one of the stupidest and most dangerous things you can do to another person. For those that might not be familiar with the term, swatting involves calling the emergency services - usually armed police - to a person's address under the false claim of criminal activity. The victim will be entirely unaware of what's about to happen, and will answer the door to officers with guns who believe that someone at the address is in danger.
Swatting is a criminal offence, as you won't be surprised to learn. People have died as a result of swatting, and people have gone to jail for the parts they played in taking someone's life from them. There are so many ways sending armed police to somebody's house could go badly wrong. Who knew?
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Brooke 'Supcaitlin' Mauro, a Gen.G member and Twitch streamer with over 300,000 followers took to Twitter to reveal that her grandparents were the unwitting victims of a swatting on January 17.
“My grandparent’s house got swatted last night because the person who swatted me thought I lived there,” she said (thanks, Dexerto).
“My grandparents are fortunately fine, but they are old and don’t speak the best English so they are very scared and confused."
While it's relieving to learn that Mauro's grandparents are doing just fine, it's awful that the streamer was targeted in the first place, much less that her elderly relatives were caught in the crossfire. Unfortunately, swatting famous Twitch personalities is becoming more and more common, to the point that some streamers, such as xQC, have been forced to move house.
Featured Image Credit: Suppycaitlin via Twitter/UbisoftTopics: Twitch
