Leitchfield PD investigating swatting call that said a husband shot his wife on West Walnut St.

A swatting call indicating a husband shot his wife and was holding another person hostage on West Walnut Street in Leitchfield elicited a huge response from local law enforcement.

Monday night at approximately 8:35, the Leitchfield Police and Fire Departments along with the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 300 block of West Walnut Street after Central Dispatch received a call saying that a man had shot his wife and had a male tied up in a residence.

The call also indicated the suspect was threatening to burn down the home and that there were children present.

Upon police arriving at the scene, officers discovered the call was fake, and was the result of a swatting incident.

Swatting is a criminal harassment tactic of deceiving an emergency service into sending a police or emergency service response team to another person’s address. This is triggered by falsely reporting a serious law enforcement emergency, such as a bomb threat, murder, hostage situation, or a false report of a mental health emergency.

Swatting has been utilized in the online gaming community as a way to exact retribution regarding a perceived slight. The act has resulted in bodily injury and death of innocent people, and can be prosecuted at the federal level. It is a class D felony in Kentucky, punishable by up to five years in prison.

The Leitchfield Police Department is leading the investigation.

(Photo: The scene on West Walnut Street in Leitchfield as police investigate a possible shooting that was actually a swatting call)

By Ken Howlett, News Director

Contact Ken at ken@k105.com