Dorchester County home a victim of “swatting” calls; Sheriff wants it to stop

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Authorities in Dorchester County are working to find who is responsible for recent swatting calls.

The term “swatting” is when someone makes a fake phone call about a serious crime that leads to law enforcement bringing their resources – often a SWAT team – to your home or business to investigate the alleged incident.

Imagine the scary scenario – you’re in your home and suddenly law enforcement starts banging on your door, and you have no clue as to why they are there.

That is exactly what happened at a Dorchester County home on Wednesday night. At just after 11:00 p.m., dispatch received a call from a man saying he had shot his father at the address, and he was threatening to shoot himself.

“You’re sitting home at night enjoying your television and somebody calls in and says your residence is where this is happening, and we come there, and we can’t get you to the door because you may have went to sleep. All of a sudden, we kick your door in you’re at a loss, we’re at a loss because we’re trying to do our job, and it’s not for us to be there, because nothing is going on,” explained Dorchester County Sheriff L.C. Knight.

When deputies arrived at the home, they called out for the individual; but they did not get a response. Dispatch told them the caller was inside the home being uncooperative before hanging up.

Deputies saw someone look out of an upstairs window and they then kicked the door several times before the homeowner opened the door letting them in. 

Once they cleared the home, they realized there was no shooting. It was a fake call.

“Not only does it put stress on our officers, it takes away from us being able to do our job in other areas where we are needed,” said Sheriff Knight. “It’s just creating a problem, and I guess the people that’s doing it think it’s fun or they’re mentally handicapped and don’t understand the problem they’re causing us and people in law enforcement.”

Two additional similar calls came in about the same address Thursday night, but deputies were able to call the residence and confirm they were also fake. They also stopped by to confirm everything was ok.

“I know we are not the only agency – I’m not sure whether anybody else in the Charleston areas had this problem yet – but I know we’ve had enough of it, so I’m hoping we can find out who’s doing it, and put a stop to it,” Sheriff Knight said.

If you have any information about who is responsible for the swatting calls in Dorchester County, call the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office’s non-emergency phone number at 843-832-0300.