A bored Alabama police officer spent his shift making a series of “bashing” calls because he “thought it would be funny,” officials alleged.
Christopher Eugene Sanspree Jr., 23, is accused of making at least six false reports over a three-month period, all of which were made while on duty with the Montgomery Police Department.
Swatting is considered a false report to law enforcement, usually through a spoofed caller ID, in order to have authorities raid an address.
Each anonymous tip was “serious” in nature and required significant police resources to respond and investigate before it was ultimately determined to be a hoax. This was announced by the Prattville Police Department.
The fake calls ranged from car break-ins to people being shot in front yards.
Prattville Police Chief Mark Thompson said in a phone call that Sanspree saw “a man walking around with bloody trails” and “a man running around with a machete and people lying bleeding in the street.” He is said to have claimed that he did so. He told WSFA12.
It’s unclear whether officers specifically targeted anyone in the calls, which are common in swatting cases, but the department classified the fake reports as such.
His reign of terror may have extended far beyond Alabama, and authorities believe Sanspree may be behind a series of false reports in Georgia, Wyoming and Massachusetts. We are investigating if there is.
After Mr Sanspree was arrested in December for filing a false report, he is said to have admitted to swatting because he “thought it was funny”.
“Frankly, I was pissed,” Thompson told WSFA 12.
“We’ve already done enough about the image of a police officer. Then we have someone do something like this. He was on duty when he was doing this.”
“So, yes, it’s very upsetting to me and other law enforcement chiefs who are trying to maintain the image that law enforcement is an honorable profession, but that these people would let these people pull a stunt like this.” There is.”
Sanspree has served 28 months in prison and was on patrol duty when he was arrested on February 7 on six outstanding warrants for falsely reporting an incident.
He was released on $6,000 bail.
The young officer, who is currently on “administrative duty,” did not respond to messages left by The Post at the phone number listed.
Swatting is a phenomenon that has swept the nation in recent months, with the FBI revealing in November that law enforcement responds to hundreds of incidents a year, many of which occur in schools.
Investigators treat calls as serious and often rush to the scene due to the urgency of the allegations.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley filed a swatting report in January, claiming that an unknown person had called 911 and “shot his girlfriend and threatened to harm himself while he was at Nikki Haley’s residence.” became a victim of
A few days earlier, someone had mistakenly called 911 to say there was hell going on at the White House.
