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Last weekend, Fortnite World Cup champion Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf was swatted while streaming the battle royale game live on Twitch, as reported by Dexerto.
‘Swatting’ is a prank phenomenon in the gaming community that sends a SWAT law enforcement unit to an unaware player while they are live streaming gameplay. The caller informs the police that there is an emergency at the residence, and so an armed team raid the house, all for the ‘entertainment’ of the audience.
On Saturday, Bugha streamed Fortnite to Twitch with pro players Timothy ‘Bizzle’ Miller and Danny ‘Dubs’ Walsh. His father spoke to him while the game was in its heated final moments, and Bugha told him, ‘Dad, I actually can’t.’ A few moments later, the teenager realised the gravity of the situation — ‘I got swatted?’ — and departed the stream to speak to police. After securing the victory royale, Bizzle and Dubs worked out what had happened and joked that it was an ‘okay excuse’ to leave the game.
Bugha came back to the stream, and explained that one of the police officers knew of his gaming career and reputation, so the situation was resolved quickly and without further issue. He said that he was ‘lucky’, and then added in a tweet that the experience was ‘kinda wild.’
kinda wild
— SEN Bugha (@bugha) August 11, 2019
Swatting is dangerous, despite its perception as a prank among the gaming community. In 2017, 28 year old father of two Andrew Finch was killed by police after Tyler Barriss tried to swat another player on Call of Duty: WW2. Barriss provided an incorrect address, and Finch was shot as he answered the door to police who believed there to be an ongoing hostage situation at the house. Barriss was jailed for 20 years.
In spite of this tragedy, swatting evidently still occurs, threatening lives and misdirecting law enforcement. It is hoped that whoever called the police to Bugha’s house has been questioned, and that it is the last time the teenager experiences this emergency.
