Elk County Dispatch receives a swatting prank call.

Yesterday afternoon at around 12:30, Elk County 911 center received a phone call from a man who stated he had just shot his wife. The caller then said he was holding his child hostage and had dumped gas all over the house. He said if he witnessed any law enforcement around the house, he would shoot the child and set the house on fire. Dispatchers heard what they believed to be three-gun shots before the phone call ended. Elk County Deputies and EMS, Montgomery County CERT and EMS, Kansas Highway Patrol and KHP aircraft unit, Wildlife and Parks Officers and Chautauqua County Deputies were all dispatched to the address.

During an investigation of the situation, it was determined that the call was a prank also known as a swatting call. Elk County Sheriff John Walker says these calls can be just as dangerous and the incident tied up resources and put the responding units and the public at risk.