A news story out of Sammamish Washington reported that a prank call was made to the Sammamish Police Department, warning that a criminal with an assault rifle and explosives was taking a family hostage and asking for $20,000 for their release. However, there was no criminal, no assailant, no danger. Instead, there was just an angry gamer online who apparently had a bone to pick with Bungie.
The house in question was the residence of an as of yet unnamed (for security reasons) executive at Bungie.
At this point, the police are starting to get fed up and are searching for people who make prank phone calls like this. Anyone caught will face a $5,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
But that’s not really the problem here. The problem is that every false call puts people’s lives in danger. “This is not a game. This is a very serious response that could’ve had serious consequences and we’re just fortunate that didn’t happen this time,” Nathan Elledge, chief of police at the Sammamish Police Department said. “It puts officers’ lives at risk when you respond to something this serious. It puts the citizens’ lives at risk.”
Source: Komonews