STANDISH, Maine — State and local law enforcement officers including a Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team all raced to what they thought was an enraged gunman and a hostage crisis Sunday night at a home on Bonny Eagle Road. But it was all a hoax.
“We’re putting a lot of people at risk for a hoax. And we take that very seriously,” Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce said.
But it was no joke to the unsuspecting family handcuffed at gunpoint.
“I step out the door, and flashlight and guns [are] drawn on me, told me not to move,” hoax victim Ryan Lent said. “There were machine guns and sniper rifles. And they were hiding along the tree line.”
“It was insane,” hoax victim Jeanine Lent said. “We had no idea what was going on.”
Five children were inside the house, and all of them were crying when they saw their parents taken away in handcuffs.
“I’m trying to support the kids, and I’m bawling, ‘It’s going to be okay,’” hoax victim Delaney Walker said.
Police let Ryan and Jeanine Lent listen to the 911 caller say he had shot and killed someone, was holding other family members hostage, and was going to kill them and any cops who showed up.
“I heard the call and it was scary. It was one of the eeriest 911 calls I’ve ever heard. So I can understand the seriousness of the situation,” Jeanine Lent said.
But what the family can’t understand is why it took police so long to search their home when nothing was wrong.
“We were kicked out of the house for two and a half hours,” Ryan Lent said.
Joyce said they had every reason to believe it was a high risk situation.
“The reality is it made for a bad night for that family. In listening to the recordings, it appears that it was a young adult,” Joyce said. “It’s believable. And what the person reports would shock your conscience, if you will.”
Joyce said 911 calls like this are called “swatting” or faking a crisis to get a SWAT team to respond.
“Celebrities have been victims to SWAT teams actually kicking in doors under the pretense that something bad was going on,” Joyce said.
“You know the SWAT team isn’t the same as ordering a pizza to somebody’s house and laughing about it. It’s a serious thing,” Jeanine Lent said.
There was no caller ID on the call and no way to readily trace it. Sheriff’s investigators are working with the Maine State Computer Crimes Task Force to try and trace the call.
If caught, that person could face state or federal charges. The prank call cost responding law enforcement agencies nearly $10,000.