FBI joins New York "Swatting" prank investigation

[Jazzy]

The FBI is joining an investigation into a hoax call that sent SWAT teams to a home on Long Island.

Long Beach Police Commissioner Michael Tangney said more than 60 heavily armed officers went to the home Tuesday after police received a call that someone killed his mother and brother there.

Officers from several departments as well as SWAT teams and hostage negotiators responded to the scene, but when police entered the home, they found everyone inside safe and unharmed.

Police said the caller may have been playing the online video game "Call of Duty" against a 17-year-old at the house. Tangney said the call may have been part of a phenomenon known as "Swatting," in which gamers get more points depending on the level of police response to their hoax.

"They see what they can do about getting the police response, helicopters, et cetera," Long Beach Police Lt. Edward Ryan told CBS New York. "While the gamers may be playing in a world of fantasy, we deal with nothing but hardcore reality. We take it very seriously. There was no way to know that if, in fact, it was any kind of a hoax."

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What a f'ing stupid thing to be doing.

Have you ever heard of "Swatting"?