“Swatting” Incident in Laramie
The Laramie Police Department is continuing to investigate a “swatting”
incident which caused several road closures and evacuations to downtown Laramie yesterday
evening. A male subject called dispatch at 5:08 p.m., claiming he was armed with a large rifle
and was wanting to shoot people at a business in the 200 block of South 2 nd Street. He also
claimed to have planted an explosive device in a vehicle in the area. Officers responded and
secured the area, evacuating several businesses and residences in the area. Laramie Police
Department Bomb Technicians responded and cleared the suspected vehicle, finding no
evidence of any threats. The vehicle which was alleged to have the explosive device was not
related to the suspect in any way.
Swatting is defined as is a criminal harassment tactic of deceiving an emergency
service (via such means as hoaxing an emergency service dispatch) into sending a police or
emergency service response team to another person’s address. This is triggered by false
reporting of a serious law enforcement emergency, such as a bomb threat, murder, hostage
situation, or false report of a mental health emergency, such as reporting that a person is
allegedly suicidal or homicidal and may or may not be armed, among other things.
Swatting would be prosecuted under Wyoming Statute 6-3-505, Terroristic Threats,
which states a person is guilty of a terroristic threat if he threatens to commit any violent felony
with the intent to cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly or facility of public
transportation, or otherwise to cause serious public inconvenience, or in reckless disregard of
the risk of causing such inconvenience. A terroristic threat is a felony punishable by
imprisonment for not more than three (3) years.
Anyone with information related to this crime is encouraged to call Crimestoppers at
307-742-CARE (2273). You could earn a cash reward of up to $1,000.00, you do not have to give
your name, and all information is kept strictly confidential.
The Laramie Police Department would like to thank the Laramie Fire Department, the
University of Wyoming Police Department, and the Albany County Sheriff’s Office for their
assistance with this investigation.