At about 12:15 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 12, Anacortes Police Department officers responded to a gunshot complaint in the 1900 block of Island View Place. A man told dispatch that he had shot his boyfriend.
Officers contacted the residents at the given address and determined the call to be a hoax, commonly known as “swatting.” A swatting is a prank call deisgned to force police to swarm a particular address.
Officers checked the residence with the occupants’ permission, cleared the building and confirmed that the report was false.
Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office deputies joined APD officers in responding to the call, as they were in town for a planned containment training. While the swatting incident occurred about two hours after the training was scheduled to begin, the training and incident were completely unrelated.
The case is under active investigation by APD detectives.