Hoax hostage call frustrates Missoula police - The Missoulian

A reported hostage situation in downtown Missoula on Monday morning that brought the Missoula Police Department’s SWAT team to an apartment building was a hoax.

But that doesn't mean it wasn't potentially life threatening, law enforcement officials say.

According to Lt. Bob Bouchee, the Missoula Police Department received a call around 8:30 a.m. from a man saying he had hostages in a unit of an apartment building on the 300 block of Pattee Street, at the intersection with Broadway. The man demanded $20,000 and said one person had been shot.

Police, sheriff’s deputies and the FBI responded to the scene, and were able to contact the tenant of the apartment and determine that the initial call was a hoax.

“Basically, it was both a relief that nothing did occur and nobody was shot but obliviously frustrating. We take any calls like this seriously and we respond as though the situation is real,” Bouchee said.

Bouchee said the practice of making false emergency calls happens around the country, and is typically called “swatting.” An investigation into the call is ongoing.

The surrounding blocks were closed for about an hour, with officers at the ends of the block of Pattee Street standing with rifles ready.

Bouchee said the hoax created a very real safety threat not just for officers but the public as well. When the call came in, the majority of all available patrol officers, as well as firefighters and medical teams, made a beeline for the building, running red lights through town with lights and sirens on.

Members of the city’s Special Response Team — commonly thought of as SWAT — were also paged to respond. Bouchee said some of the team were already working normal shifts with the department, but others were not, and all of them had to scramble to get their gear and vehicles ready.

“That creates an increased risk to the public, but also to the officers and first responders who are rushing to the scene,” Bouchee said, adding that the danger created by the hoax call could be considered potential felony criminal endangerment.

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