Swatting is pretty much the shittiest prank a person can pull, if you can even call an action that might lead to someone’s death a “prank.” Somebody calls the police and accuses somebody else—often someone who’s livestreaming—of an in-progress crime so heinous that a SWAT team shows up at their door, with unpredictable consequences. Late last year, a 28-year-old was killed as the result of one.

As police continue to struggle with the issue, the Seattle police department has taken a proactive measure.

Tyler Barris is being held by US police on charges of involuntary manslaughter after he allegedly placed a phony emergency call that resulted in the death of another man. But Barris reportedly managed to get access to the internet and proceeded to hop on Twitter, threatening to "swat" again and proclaiming himself an "eGod".

The past handful of days have been a whirlwind for Peter "Rolly Ranchers" Varady. In that time, the 12-year-old has gone from being just another kid trying his hand at YouTube, to someone with nearly 100,000 subscribers, to a swatting victim.

Twenty-five-year-old Tyler Barriss was charged today in Kansas for involuntary manslaughter and two other counts in the wake of a swatting call that led police to kill an unarmed 28-year-old at his home. The maximum sentence varies, but if found guilty Barriss could face a hefty fine and years in prison.

A 28-year-old man in the US was shot and killed by a Wichita police officer after a reported hostage situation call last night. At a press conference this afternoon, Wichita police said it was a false call meant to draw SWAT officers to the scene, an act known as "swatting". It appears to have been linked to an argument over Call of Duty, although police have not confirmed that.

Two young men, one from the UK and another from the US, have been charged with "swatting" Tyran Dobbs, who was shot in the head and chest with rubber bullets by police after his home was raided.

Normally, parks are a great place to chill and capture lots of monsters within Pokemon GO. This particular excursion, however, ended with cops pointing guns at a Pokemon GO player instead.

After blowing up the internet with those sweet white Vans, Damn Daniel's creator has now become the victim of one of the internet's worst "pranks."

US Rep. Katherine Clark has for a few years now been on a crusade against shitty behaviour on the internet, from death threats made against women to hoax calls that send armed police to a victim's home (also known as swatting). On Sunday night, Rep. Katherine Clark's home was swatted.

Matthew Tollis, a 22 year-old from Wethersfield, Connecticut, is facing a year in jail for his role in a series of Swatting calls made last year.

This past Saturday, the popular League of Legends-focused Twitch streamer Trick2g was putting on an elaborate 24-hour live event to commemorate the fact that he'd amassed 800,000 subscribers. He decided to end the stream with a bang: staging his own mock swatting. Come Monday morning, his account was banned.

A 17-year-old in British Columbia, Canada -- that's him above -- plead guilty to 23 cases of extortion, public mischief and criminal harassment. What does that mean, exactly? He's terrifying.

A 13-year-old kid from Camarillo, California was arrested earlier this month and has since confessed to three acts of "Swatting".

A Runescape player was recently swatted while 60,000 people watched his stream. When he tried to record a video talking about the incident, he broke down crying. A few days ago, a 19-year-old in Las Vegas was arrested for coordinating a swatting in Illinois. What motivates someone to take this dangerous step? I tracked down a self-professed swatter to find out.

Joshua Peters, a US Air Force vet who hangs out on Twitch playing video games, was the victim of a swatting hoax last week, during which his home was stormed and the police reportedly pointed guns at his brothers.

Do you know how much of your personal information is floating around? It's more than you think and very easy to find. Phone numbers, home addresses, email accounts.
As my recent story about gamers who got swatted showed, anybody can become a target. You don't have to be someone with a million followers. Social networks have encouraged us share everything, including where we're hanging out. We've signed up for a million different accounts, and we need to be more careful.

Jason Allen Neff, who last year pleaded guilty to a variety of crimes related to his role in a group who thought "swatting" was a fun time, has this month been sentenced for his crimes. He'll be spending five years in a federal prison.

On June 28, 2014, a SWAT team showed up at the home of Max and Victoria Zeisberg. Bright lights blared into the couple's windows. Officers came equipped with assault rifles and shotguns. They'd gotten a tip that Max had murdered his wife.

The act of "swatting", or sending armed police to somebody's house as a prank, is up there with about the dumbest things you can do. So when police in Canada and Florida got a chance to actually arrest someone suspected of faking a school shooting, they went right after him.