Grand Mound reports ‘swatting’ incident
By Mia Tucker
The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating reports of an incident that proved to be unsubstantiated, according to a release from the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office.
About 4:21 p.m. Wednesday, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 600 block of Smith Street in Grand Mound for a report of a person being shot and two other people being held hostage. When deputies arrived, the area around the home was immediately secured and deputies worked quickly to verify the accuracy of the information provided in the call to the 911 Center, the release says.
The release says that, upon further investigation – including information provided by numerous witnesses – the call was believed to be unsubstantiated. Deputies made contact with the occupants in the apartment building, verifying they were uninjured and no crime had occurred within the property. The occupants were quickly and safely returned to their homes.
Preliminary investigations have led investigators to believe this incident was a “swatting incident” in which people “report heinous crimes to law enforcement, with the intent to generate a significant law enforcement response to an unwitting person, home or location,” the release says.
The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Clinton Police Department, DeWitt Police Department, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Department of Motor Vehicle Enforcement, Grand Mound Fire Department, Clinton County Emergency Management, Med-Force Air Ambulance and Genesis Ambulance
