This browser does not support the Video element.
'Swatting' incident leaves Marine City community on edge
A 911 call came on Sunday night when a caller claimed to have three hostages upstairs in a two-story building, bound and being held at gunpoint. The man on the phone said he was armed with an AR-15. He demanded a ransom of $50,000, threatened the lives of the hostages, even claiming affiliation with a terrorist group.
MARINE CITY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Many are still looking for answers after a swatting incident in Marine City that left the whole community on edge.
Big picture view:
A 911 call came on Sunday night when a caller claimed to have three hostages upstairs in a two-story building, bound and being held at gunpoint. The man on the phone said he was armed with an AR-15. He demanded a ransom of $50,000, threatened the lives of the hostages, even claiming affiliation with a terrorist group.
As it turns out, the whole thing was a hoax, but at first the police did have reason to believe him.
Here is what the chief of police and the chiropractor who owns the building had to say about the matter.
Marine City police confirm swatting incident, lift shelter in place order
Just before 6:20 p.m. Sunday evening police were called to a building in downtown Marine City, for a person claiming to have taken hostages. After about two hours of investigating, and further phone calls where the caller claimed to have killed one of the hostages, police concluded that the incident was likely a "swatting" call.
What they're saying:
"Some of the things that the guy relayed to us made us believe that there might be some truth to what he was telling us, where certain people were standing, where certain cars were located. Then we realized he was looking at a live-stream camera of one of the businesses that he might be utilizing to gather all his information," said Marine City Police Chief Jim Heaslip. "Some of the stories were changing. He was starting to send text messages to the deputy that he was grabbing screenshots off of Facebook. Just some things weren’t adding up to us."
Heaslip says the one thing that stood out to them was that an officer overheard gunshots over the phone. However, they heard nothing while being fifty feet from the building.
Chris Zimmer is the building owner.
"At first, you’re like, is this really happening? Something awful could take place," said Zimmer. "I wouldn’t wish this on anybody—the stress that it has caused my wife and me, it’s still not sinking in completely. I try not to give it too much energy because, by doing so, I’m letting those individuals gain space."
The call came from an area code in California and officials are working with the FBI to identify who did this.