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Victim in West Valley City ‘swatting’ incident speaks

Posted at 10:02 PM, Jun 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-28 18:28:27-04

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — A 93-year-old woman in West Valley was startled from her sleep Tuesday morning around 2 a.m.

"The lights were flashing through the window," said the woman, who preferred not to be identified.

She said when she opened the door, dozens of SWAT team members and police officers were staring back at her.

"I think they were afraid that someone was in the house," she said.

But the woman said she lives alone.

Police say they got a 911 call around midnight saying the caller had just killed their parents, and the phone number matched the home number at the 93-year-old's address.

"When officers arrived and tried to make contact, there was no response," said West Valley City Police Chief Lee Russo.

Russo said the caller identified himself as "Kevin," and the 93-year-old woman had a son name Kevin.

So, from that sense, it all checked out.

However, they reached out to the victim's children, even waking a man named Kevin in his apartment across town.

"I feel it's very wicked what they did to my son Kevin," the 93-year-old added. "I can't imagine any kind of grudge someone could carry and do that."

Police said they believe the call was likely a prank, and haven't ruled out it's someone performing "swatting," or prank calling 911 to have SWAT members show up at homes.

"Typically, there is a footprint left behind," Chief Russo said about the 911 caller. "We are working with cell phone companies, with Federal partners, and will do everything we can to identify this call."

Chief Russo also indicated that felony charges could be pending for the person who really made the call.

Fortunately, police were able to figure out what had happened before knocking down the 93-year-old's door.

"I'm glad they didn't because that would have petrified me to have woken up with someone standing next to my bed."