Bend Police say a teen suspected of sending a false report of a shooting inside a Bend home last month, which prompted a response from local SWAT, has been arrested in Pennsylvania. In addition to accusations of multiple similar “swatting” incidents, child pornography was allegedly found on the teen’s computer.
The incident in Bend happened on April 11 at a home on SW Taft Avenue near the Old Mill District. Bend Police said that a call came in to dispatchers, with the caller saying he had shot someone at a home and that he was still in the residence. Police said the nature of the call prompted them to bring in armored vehicles and to ask medics to stage in the area.
It was eventually determined nobody was home.
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On Friday, Bend Police said Pennsylvania State Police and Collin County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office investigators began a joint probe into another swatting call. That led them to determine the calls were coming from a home in Jackson Township, Pennsylvania.
Bend Police said their detectives worked with the FBI to determine the caller in that case was the same one in the Bend case.
A search warrant on the home Tuesday uncovered evidence that the suspect made at least nine swatting calls across the country, including the Bend incident, police said. Officers also allegedly found child pornography on the teen’s computer.
A juvenile petition has been filed against the suspect for charges of possession of child pornography, false alarms, false reports, and possession of instruments of a crime, Bend Police said. The teen is in juvenile detention.
Bend Police say it’s not clear if any of these were targeted attacks or were random.
This came two months after another swatting call at Bend High School. Bend Police communications manager Sheila Miler says that’s still an open investigation.
“It doesn’t appear to be related to this incident,” Miller said. “But these sorts of things takes up a lot of resources and a lot of time that could be spent solving real crimes. And they’re dangerous for neighbors and for our officers.”
Police typically do not name juvenile suspects.
