A 13-year-old faces charges after numerous false calls to 911 — known as swatting — were made Wednesday in Orillia.
Shortly before 5:30 p.m., police received a call to attend an area of Front Street South for a report of a structure fire. Firefighters and paramedics had patrolled the area with nothing located, and requested police assist with locating the caller, but the call was placed from an unregistered phone number.
At about 6:30 p.m., police received a high-priority call to attend an area of Elgin Street for a report of a 13-year-old girl who had been shot and was lying in the middle of the street, bleeding. Paramedics and about 10 police officers responded, but no one was found.
Police then received 16 more calls from the same voice with similar call details. All the calls received were high priority and took up plenty of resources, Orillia OPP said in a news release.
At about 7 p.m., police saw a young person on the second floor of a residence in the reported area. The youth could be seen talking on a cellphone. Police asked the call taker to listen for a siren, which was then activated by police and heard by the call taker.
As a result, officers were able to locate a young person in possession of a cellphone, which was seized as evidence. Police confirmed all of the calls made came from that device.
A 13-year-old was arrested and charged with theft under $5,000, public mischief, and possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000.
The accused was released to parents with a future court date.
