'Swatting' Blamed for Police Call Out at Lil Wayne's Mansion

When Miami Beach Police received a call just before 1 p.m. Wednesday about shots fired at rapper Lil Wayne’s sprawling $9.4 million mansion, they turned out in force to investigate.

After going room-by-room, officers had not found any victims as of 1:45 p.m. despite the caller’s insistence that he had shot four people inside the home, the Miami Herald is reporting.

Police said on the agency’s Twitter stream that it’s a possible case of “swatting.” An all-clear was tweeted out at 2:52 p.m.

“Unfortunately, this appears to be a ‘swatting’ call,” Miami Beach police confirmed just before 3 p.m. “No victims, no injuries, no subjects,” the agency tweeted.

Fans of the rapper are being assured by his record label that he is just fine.

“Wayne is okay,” Young Money Entertainment tweeted just before 2 p.m. “Wasn’t home during the alleged events.”

See Also:

• Phony 911 Call Leads SWAT to Sleeping Family’s Door
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Swatting is a growing trend that is causing concern among law enforcement officials across the country. The practice involves the use of technology to place a call to 911 that’s masked so it appears to be coming from a different number at a different location.

“The individuals who engage in this activity use technology to make it appear that the emergency call is coming from the victim’s phone,” the FBI’s website says about the crime. “Sometimes swatting is done for revenge, sometimes as a prank. Either way, it is a serious crime, and one that has potentially dangerous consequences.”

Swatting first hit the FBI’s radar back in 2008. The FBI warns that pulling the prank not only isn’t funny, it has the potential to be deadly.

Last August, a phony 911 call led SWAT team members to a sleeping family’s door in Oviedo. While no one was hurt in that case, the FBI’s Kevin Kolbye warns it’s a dangerous practice.

“The victims are scared and taken by surprise,” he said. “(Law enforcement) believe they have a violent subject to apprehend or an innocent victim to rescue. It’s a dangerous situation any way you look at it.”

As the Miami Beach Police Department pointed out on its Twitter stream, agencies handle “all calls of this nature in a serious manner,” thus the SWAT call outs. “In this case, it appears to be a hoax @LilWaynes home.”

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