False shooting report triggers ‘swatting incident’ at Lafayette house

YAMHILL COUNTY Ore. (KPTV) - A house in Yamhill County was swatted after an unknown caller reported a false shooting on Wednesday.

Around 10:45 a.m., Yamhill Communications got a call from city staff at Lafayette City Hall reporting a man had called claiming that he was at an address in the city of Lafayette.

According to the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO), He said he had shot two individuals inside the house and barricaded himself inside. The caller also reported he would shoot responding deputies.

YCSO said they set up a secure area around the house with support from neighboring agencies – including McMinnville police, Oregon State Police, Yamhill police and Newberg-Dundee police.

People who live in the neighborhood said it was like a scene out of a movie.

“They came across and were walking right along the curb and they were in their typical formation,” a neighbor said. “And they had the shield, and they had the big guns.”

When officers made contact inside the home, an adult woman answered. She said there were no issues in the home and allowed police to sweep the house.

“Then all of a sudden, they are just filing out, calm as can be. They all walked side by side going down the street, filed back out,” a neighbor said.

Authorities determined the call was a false report - a “swatting incident.” Swatting is a prank call made to emergency services to bring a large and heavily armed police response to a particular address.

Neighbors said they are glad nobody was actually hurt, but learning it was a prank is upsetting.

“It’s wasting all kinds of money,” a neighbor said. “I don’t know why they would do it.”

The woman in the home reported having prior issues with cyberbullying and harassment. Investigators are working to determine who called the Lafayette City Hall.

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