In the wake of about 40 law enforcement officials descending on a Standish home in a call that turned out to be a hoax, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Naldo Gagnon said first responders acted properly and that the sheriff’s office doesn’t plan to change its policies.
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and other local law enforcement agencies responded to the residence at 333 Bonny Eagle Road in Standish after a man called 911 at approximately 7:45 p.m. to say he had shot his girlfriend and was going to harm others. The man also disclosed that there were two other subjects present that he was going to harm them as well. The phony call, according to Gagnon, necessitated a massive response since there were potentially hostages and weapons involved.
Deputies from the sheriff’s office along with members of the Gorham Police Department, Maine State Police, Maine Warden’s Service, Buxton Police Department and Standish Fire/Rescue Department responded. The Cumberland County Emergency Services Unit was also activated. Contact was made with the home’s residents who said they were not in harm’s way and were unaware of any issues.
Gagnon said police believe the call was a hoax known as “swatting.” Swatting, he said, is a new trend in which someone calls in a false report requiring a full-scale tactical response from police agencies. It is estimated the full-scale response cost taxpayers about $10,000.
Gagnon said the department would conduct the usual review completed after every SWAT-style raid. Otherwise, he said, there are no plans to change policy.
“Every situation is different every time you deal with these,” he said. “You always learn something where you could do it a little better. But a lot of things were done right.”
“It was a pretty serious call,” he added. “The caller said, ‘There’s one person dead and there’s two others that could be dead.’”
Gagnon said the sheriff’s office already has procedures to verify calls to make sure they are not hoaxes and that those procedures are not likely to be changed.
“We try to key in on certain factors to give us that it could possibly be a scam,” he said.
“When you receive those calls, it’s very disturbing to hear what they’re describing going on and so it heightens your awareness for everybody’s safety,” Gagnon added.
The sheriff’s office is investigating the incident due to the severity of the false report. So far, no suspects have been named. The FBI is also joining the investigation, Gagnon said. Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff’s office attention to Detective John Fournier.
“We’re just hoping some leads will turn up, whether by electronic means or somebody giving us a tip,” Gagnon said.
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