ANTIGONISH: The RCMP is investigating what they are calling fake reports to the emergency response system.
According to Antigonish County Distrcit RCMP, at 9:42 a.m. on Sept. 15, they received two separate 911 calls of an armed man in a mask at the Antigonish Market Square.
The mall was placed on lockdown and numerous officers attended the scene immediately, the RCMP said, noting the mall was cleared and no armed person was found.
By the time a release was posted to the Nova Scotia RCMP Facebook page at 10:48 a.m., it advised the lockdown had been lifted.
“No one who was at the mall saw an armed person and no armed person was ever located on video surveillance,” the release read. “The complaint is unfounded and is the result of swatting.”
The RCMP also suggest the 911 calls originated from other areas of Antigonish and weren’t called in from the mall.
RCMP public information officer Cpl. Chris Marshall explained to The Reporter that swatting is when someone places a prank or vexatious call to 911 in an effort to have a large emergency response to an incident that isn’t real.
“These types of calls are a drain on resources and take officers away from their normal duties,” Marshall said. “Which involves investigating real crimes.”
Marshall said a large contingent of RCMP officers responded to the mall and searched it in an effort to locate the armed, masked man.
“When our officers cleared the mall and did not find anyone matching that description, they began canvassing witnesses and reviewing video surveillance,” Marshall said. “This all takes a significant amount of time and effort on the parts of our officers, who ultimately had to investigate an incident that never occurred.”
From here, the public information officer said the investigation transitions to trying to determine who placed the fictitious 911 calls.
“It is an offence under the 911 Act to make a prank call,” Marshall added. “And depending on the evidence gathered during this investigation, it may rise to the level of criminal charges.”