Reported Shooting A Hoax By Online Gamer
” The action became very real for a 17-year-old Long Beach resident who was playing the video game Call of Duty on Tuesday, after a bitter online opponent called police and falsely claimed that the teen had fatally shot his mother and brother in his Laurelton Boulevard home.
Long Beach Police Commissioner Michael Tangney said that the teenager had just won a round of the popular online multi-player shooter game. But when a losing rival claiming to be the teen called police to report the bogus incident, it prompted a massive response — including a fully armed Nassau County SWAT team with an armored vehicle and a helicopter unit — to what was initially believed to be a multiple shooting and hostage situation.
Tangney said that when police arrived at the house at around 3 p.m., 17-year-old Long Beach High School student Rafael Castillo was still playing the game on Xbox while wearing a headset and had no idea what was happening outside.”
It was one mighty expensive hoax phone call …
” “He was quite stunned — he was very shaken up by it,” Tangney said, adding that the police response could cost roughly $100,000.
More than 50 county, Long Beach and MTA police officers, and firefighters responded to the home. Nearby streets were blocked off as numerous police vehicles rushed to scene. The standoff lasted more than an hour and attracted crowds of onlookers who milled about, saying that they learned about the incident on social media.”
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