DELTONA, Fla. (WSVN) — Newly released body camera footage captured the tense encounter after deputies responded to a distress call reporting a homicide at a Deltona home but what they discovered was a sinister prank known as “swatting,” left everyone involved shaken and apprehensive.
Sandile “Hunter” Mgidi, visiting from New Jersey, found himself facing Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies with guns drawn, as he stepped outside of a house on Monday night.
“I see everyone pointing a gun at me, and I’m freaking out. I’m like, ‘Whoa, what the heck is going on?'” Hunter recounted.
On the body cam footage, Hunter can be heard saying he was “utterly confused” to which a deputy responded, “Yup, so are we.”
The call that brought the deputies to the scene alleged that someone had shot their wife, tied up their children, and threatened to set the house on fire.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood expressed his concern over the dangers of such incidents.
“I’ve had it happen at my house and my parents. We had it happen at synagogues. It’s just really, really dangerous,” he said.
Sheriff Chitwood revealed that Hunter and the couple he was visiting had fallen victim to the disturbing trend of swatting, where individuals make fraudulent emergency calls to provoke a large-scale police response. The primary objective behind such calls is either to cause harm to the officers responding or to put the targeted individuals in danger.
“I could have lost my life off of someone, I don’t know, trying to be vindictive, funny, whatever was their motive, of making that phone call,” said Hunter.
Authorities are actively investigating the incident and are determined to identify the caller responsible for the fake distress call. The residents of the Deltona home have a suspicion about the potential identity of the person behind the hoax.
Swatting incidents have been on the rise, and catching the culprits can prove challenging due to the complexity of tracking down anonymous and masked digital footprints.
Law enforcement agencies are continuously working to develop strategies to combat these dangerous pranks and ensure the safety of both the public and responding officers.
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