Just after 4 a.m. Sunday, a man called Lawrence police to say he’d shot his father and was currently holding a gun to his mother’s head in the 700 block of Ash Street.

Within minutes, five officers and a supervisor arrived on the scene, setting up a perimeter to cover the home from all angles, Lawrence Police Department spokesman Sgt. Trent McKinley said. Medics from Lawrence-Douglas County Fire medical came prepared to treat the victim inside. The man threatened to harm officers who responded.

Oddly enough, though, the call was first placed to the Lawrence, Mass., police department just before being rerouted the Lawrence, Kan., department, McKinley said.

Something was fishy. A similar report had come in concerning the Ash Street address in October and it was determined to be false, according to dispatchers. Sunday’s call came in from an untraceable phone number created online.

Turns out, the Sunday morning report was fictitious. No one in the home called in the report and they evacuated without incident, McKinley said. The early morning drama was an act of a new-age, dangerous version of a prank call known as “swatting.”

The concept is called “swatting” because the prank callers develop stories so elaborate that, if they were real, they would require a Special Weapons and Tactics team to respond to the incident, McKinley said.

“‘Swatting’ is a call that would initiate the use of a SWAT team,” McKinley said. “We’ve had a couple, but they didn’t get the full-scale response they were hoping for. We are not quite as likely as other departments to force an entry.”

When the LPD receives a call like that, officers use a process to assess the situation and help prevent excessive force in unfounded claims, McKinley said.

“Patrol officers arrive there first to block off traffic, take evidence and gather information,” McKinley said. “If we start to confirm some things, then you call in additional units.”

During Sunday’s call, McKinley said the LPD’s tactical team was never used and police left the scene within 20 minutes of arrival.

McKinley said caution is taken, especially when dealing with untraceable numbers like the call on Sunday or calls that come into the LPD administrative line listed on the Internet, rather than a direct call into 911.

“Caller ID is not on dispatch lines, so there’s no ability to call back,” McKinley said.

The pranksters, who could be located anywhere in the world, use online phone systems like Skype or Google Voice, which allow users to create fake phone numbers with area codes from all parts of the country.

I tried creating a fake phone number with Google Voice to see how it worked. In all of about 4 ½ minutes, I’d created a 202 area code phone number, called my iPhone through Google Voice right here in Lawrence and sure enough, “Incoming call from Washington, D.C.,” popped up on my home screen.

McKinley said these phone numbers are practically untraceable.

“Internet calls don’t hit any cell towers. Here we thought it was bad when Wal-Mart started selling disposable (cell phones) for $50,” McKinley said. “At least we could look at the cell tower and surveillance footage to help determine who made the call.”

McKinley said responding to false reports is not very financially costly, estimating the manpower plus mileage to respond to a false call is about $50 an hour, but the calls do affect the safety of the community.

Fast-moving emergency vehicles and handling of weapons at an otherwise safe scene pose risks to the community, he said. Plus, it takes officers off patrol in other areas where crime actually might be occurring.

“Often times it’s not the financial cost, but the cost of danger with that kind of response,” McKinley said.

Motives for swatting range from malicious revenge on a prankster’s acquaintance to sheer mischief, McKinley said.

“They put together these sophisticated stories to get us to take an action against someone in retaliation, or some just want to see what we’ll do,” McKinley said. “It’s kind of like pulling a fire alarm and watching the fire trucks pull up.”

For a further idea of how the swatting can go terribly wrong, check out this CBS clip about a “swatter” in Colorado.