the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Glen Rock NJ, on Wednesday August 4th at 10:02 AM , Glen Rock Police reported a seemingly credible concerned citizen approached an officer on a traffic detail reporting that there was an injured male subject on the 400 block of Broad Street flagging down motorists stating he had a gunshot wound to his leg and needed assistance.
Multiple officers from Glen Rock, Ridgewood and the Bergen County Regional SWAT Patrol searched the area, however, no such individual or additional witnesses were located. A check with area hospitals found that no one had sought treatment at an ER during this time frame. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the Glen Rock Police Department at (201) 652-3800.
Swatting entails generating an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim under false pretenses. Swatters do this by making phone calls to emergency lines like 911 and falsely reporting a violent emergency situation, such as a shooting or hostage situation.
False public alarm is a third degree crime under NJSA 2C:33-3. If you’re accused of making a false report about an emergency situation, you may face these charges and serious penalties.
Not swatting. As noted in the article, swatting denotes having a target, of which there was none.
I think of the SWAT overreaction several years ago to the report of a night time intruder in a TD Bank that turned out to be a cardboard cutout of Regis Philbin.