The terror of swatting: how the law is tracking down high-tech prank callers

Complex anonymity tools mean it can cost $100,000 to identify just one hoax caller. But how long will it be before swatting costs someone their life?

The first 911 call came at 4.30pm. The caller told dispatchers that a man, woman, and boy had been shot and another child was being held hostage. Police responded in force, sending more than half a dozen cruisers and emergency vehicles to a sprawling house in the affluent Atlanta suburb of Johns Creek.