First responders flocked to a home on Bulkeley Hill Road in Colchester after receiving the report of a shooting and hostage situation Monday afternoon – but when they arrived to find an empty home, they realized the call had been a hoax.
Authorities responded to 109 Bulkeley Hill Road around 2:30 p.m. Monday after someone called 911 to report a hostage situation and said someone had been shot, according to police.
A SWAT team was called out and police blocked off the road. Police said school buses were diverted around the area, and Bulkeley Hill Road was blocked off at the intersection of School Street.
Police also called homeowner Paul Nadeau, who rushed back from work, afraid he might come home to a crime scene. He was escorted in a SWAT truck and arrived to find dozens of police cars blocking his street and surrounding his property.
"What's going on at my house?" Nadeau said. "I thought some lunatic came here and started shooting."
But after Nadeau handed over the keys, authorities entered the home and found nothing. It was empty, and police said the call had been a false alarm.
About two hours after arriving on scene, police began to pack up and leave, and the focus shifted to tracking down the person who placed the call.
Local
Authorities are calling it a "swatting" situation and have launched an investigation to determine who is responsible for placing the call, according to state police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance.
An arrest could carry charges of falsely reporting an incident.
"It's crazy. What if something happened somewhere else, and all the police are here, at a false alarm, when someone really needs help?" Nadeau wondered.
State police major crime detectives and state police computer crime detectives are investigating.
"You never think it's going to happen at your house, and you get that phone call," Nadeau said. "Thank god no one was in there with a gun."
More SWAT officers showing up here on Bulkeley Hill Rd. in #Colchester pic.twitter.com/5swUeStoNS — ilana gold (@ilanagoldNBC) September 22, 2014
