“Swattting” incident prompts heavy police presence in Orange Park

The Orange Park Police Department says an apparent “swatting” incident is what caused the large law enforcement presence off Wells Road.

Orange Park Police Chief Gary Goble says the Clay County Sheriff’s Office initially got the dispatch call, which was a man saying he had just killed two people and was threatening to kill himself in a home on Wells Landing Drive, near Wells Road. CCSO determined it was OPPD jurisdiction, so they alerted police, but also provided support, including SWAT.

OPPD says they contacted the homeowner, who wasn’t actually there at the time. That person quickly responded and gave them a key, and when law enforcement entered the home they didn’t find anyone inside.

Goble says they believe this was a “swatting” incident, or where someone makes a hoax call to law enforcement, in order to provoke a large response on an unknowing person.

“They’re hard cases to work because the calls could be coming from anywhere. The gentleman had enough information to know who the owner of the residence was, the address... was able to spell it all out,” Goble says.

He says they’re focused right now on trying to trace the origin of the call. The person responsible could face charges, according to Goble, because of the considerable resources that are deployed in a situation like this.

At this time, Goble says he has no idea why the person made this call.