Officer arrested for allegedly making 'swatting' calls to another department: 'He thought it was funny'
23-year-old Christopher Eugene Sanspree Jr. (Credit: Prattville Police Department)
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - An Alabama police officer is accused of making "swatting" calls to another police department.
Authorities said Christopher Eugene Sanspree Jr., 23, was arrested on six misdemeanor counts of false reporting an incident. The bond for each of the outstanding warrants was set at $1,000 cash.
According to WSFA, Sanspree was employed as an officer of the Montgomery Police Department and was on-duty at the time of the incidents.
Investigators with the Prattville Police Department believe Sanspree made several phone calls to the Autauga County E911.
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The outlet reported that some of the calls described "a subject laying in the front yard...apparently shot," "seeing people breaking in cars, vehicles, running around with a machete," and "a man walking around with a blood trail."
Lawmakers to crackdown on swatting calls
Georgia lawmakers plan to make swatting a felony after string of Christmas incidents. On Christmas night, State Sen. Clint Dixon, of Gwinnett County, said he and his wife had just said goodbye to their in-laws when he heard his wife panicking in the other room. Come to find out the family were the victims of a Hoax hostage call and had their home swarmed by swat. FOX 5 Atlanta's Brooke Zauner has the story.
"These falsely reported incidents were serious in nature and required a substantial amount of resources to respond to each call as well as a considerable amount of investigative resources to be expended," the department said in a Facebook post.
WSFA reported that Sanspree had been with the Montgomery Police Department for 28 months and is currently on "administrative assignment."
Investigators are also looking to see whether he made calls outside of Alabama, the outlet reported.
Sanspree reportedly told authorities he made the calls because "he thought it was funny."
What is swatting?
Hundreds of cases of swatting occur annually, with some using caller ID spoofing to disguise their number. The goal is to get authorities, particularly a SWAT team, to respond to an address.
An FBI official said last November that they believe the wave of false threats focused on schools may be coming from outside the country.
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Officials said at the time that they had identified calls to about 250 colleges, 100 high schools and several junior high schools just since early June falsely reporting explosive devices being planted at the schools or saying that a shooting was imminent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.