Reported shooting a hoax

Thought to be retaliation against video game winner

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A shooting incident reported on Laurelton Boulevard this afternoon — which drew a large police presence, including Nassau County SWAT and helicopters, and crowds of onlookers — turned out to be a hoax.

According to Long Beach Police Commissioner Michael Tangney, police received a call around 3 p.m. reporting that a teen who lives on Laurelton Blvd. had shot his parents.

But really, the call was an incident of “swatting,” or tricking emergency service into dispatching an emergency response based on the false report of a critical incident. Episodes range from large to small, from the deployment of bomb squads, SWAT units and other police units to a single fabricated police report meant to discredit an individual as a prank or personal vendetta.

Tangney said that when police arrived at the house, they found the 17-year-old boy playing video games. He had no idea the commotion outside was directed at him.

Tangney said that earlier, the teen had been playing the video game Call of Duty against another online user. After he won the game, police believe that the loser of the game made the phony call to the LBPD. Police do not yet know who the caller was or where he called from, and said that he used Skype, the Internet phone service, to make the call to police.