Crime & Safety

Report: Video Game Chatter Leads to Hostage Hoax in Cape St. Claire

The alleged 'gunman' turned out to be a scared teenager, police said.


Online video game chatter Friday night in Cape St. Claire led Anne Arundel County police to believe that someone armed with a shotgun had taken a woman hostage, CapitalGazette.com reported.

When police arrived on the scene at Swan Drive, prepared to disarm the gunman and rescue the hostage, all they found was a scared teenager, parents, and a video game.

The would-be gunman reportedly said online “if he didn’t get a million dollars, he would start shooting people,” police spokesperson Lt. Michael Brother told CapitalGazette.com.

The online gamer also said he was in possession of a shotgun and had taken a woman hostage. The woman, Brothers told CapitalGazette.com, was supposedly “laying unconscious and bleeding.”

Finding no gunman or hostages in the home, police were able to determine that the threats were online video game chatter that someone had taken seriously and decided to report, Brothers said. Police were not able to determine who made the call or the online threats, and left the scene shortly after determining that no one was in danger.
Read more at CapitalGazette.com. 


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