Police rushed to a home in Sammanish, Washington at 4 am this morning after receiving a fake 911 call about a hostage situation. The owner of the home has not been identified but Komo News reports that it was a “high-up executive” at Bungie, the company behind games like Halo and Destiny.
A neighbor said that a helicopter woke her up early this morning: “It was so loud and it lasted for 45 minutes. A very long time. It’s very unusual. We never have airplane activity in this neighborhood. I was thinking it was a flight for life.”
Officers believed that the family was being held at gunpoint inside. They were also told that the yard had been rigged with explosives.
Nathan Elledge, chief of police at the Sammamish Police Department, said: “The caller said he had an assault rifle and he had placed explosives in the yard and he was holding a family hostage. He wanted $20,000 to release the family.”
Elledge said that the Destiny game developer was never in any danger. Police are now looking for the person responsible for placing the fake 911 call. If the caller is caught, they face a year in jail and a $5000 fine.
Elledge said: “This is not a game. This is a very serious response that could’ve had serious consequences and we’re just fortunate that didn’t happen this time. It puts officers’ lives at risk when you respond to something this serious. It puts the citizens’ lives at risk.”
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