Las Vegas Man Arrested for ‘Swatting’

Swatting, the act of calling real SWAT police on unsuspecting gamers is a freaking dangerous stunt to pull. It’s also something police forces are becoming tired of, as it involves deployment of armed resources, no doubt at great expense, when they could be best used elsewhere, potentially even saving lives rather than wasting time.

Brandon Willson, 19 years old was living in Las Vegas when he made up a murder story to get a SWAT team to show up to a house in Naperville, Chicago. He got busted for the call and is now sitting in a cell in Nevada, awaiting extradition to Illinois. State’s Attorney James Glasgow is currently putting together legislation to make swatting a felon within Illinois; bad news for Brandon.

According to prosecutors, Brandon is also under investigation for hacking to obtain personal information belonging to two people, threatening people with identity theft and more. He’s charged with two counts of computer fraud & tampering, one count of intimidation for each hacking incident, identity theft and disorderly conduct. A conviction would mean up to five years in prison, as well as further charges in Texas, California, South Carolina and Nevada as the FBI continue investigations.

Long story short, this kid is going to be made a prime example of why Swatting is a really dumb idea.