Swatting Incident Causes Emergency Response in Eastchester

A man who claimed that he had stabbed his girlfriend and tied up her entire family in Eastchester, caused the mobilization of a major emergency response on Saturday April 4th at 5:16 pm. Police received the man's call from a private number and could not ascertain whether it originated from the home at 1 Joyce Road in Eastchester. Since the caller said he had a gun and was holding the family hostage, police set up a perimeter around the house and blocked off surrounding streets.

Eastchester Police called in for assistance from:

• Eastchester Command and Detective Division
• Westchester, Tuckahoe, Bronxville and Pelham Emergency Response Units
• Westchester County Department of Public Safety Special Operation, SWAT, Aviation and K-9
• New Rochelle Tactical Unit
• Greenburgh SWAT and Hostage Negotiation

SWAT team members, wearing bulletproof vests and helmets were on hand and a helicopter landed at a nearby school.

However, shortly thereafter, Eastchester police were able to reach the homeowners who denied making the call. Members of the SWAT team then entered the house with support from an armored vehicle provided by Westchester County. They determined that the call was a hoax or an incident of "swatting."

Eastchester Detectives are conducting a "vigorous" investigation of the origin of the call and identity of the caller, who police say will be "prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Discussing the event, Eastchester Police Chief Timothy Bonci said, "It is unfortunate that these incidents take place, and really waste the resources of all the jurisdictions that responded. I can only speculate what would motivate someone to do this."

He added, "The response from all the assisting agencies was overwhelming and it was reassuring to know that had the incident been an actual incident, due to the coordinated efforts of all involved, we were very prepared to respond appropriately."