Lincoln Police respond to a fake bomb threat from the Netherlands

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A fake bomb threat that appears to have originated in the Netherlands tied up Lincoln Police over the weekend.

Officers said they were called to a home near North 12th Street and Furnas Avenue just before 5:15 a.m. on Saturday.

They found only person there, who had no knowledge of any names or details included in the threat.

Officers searched the home and didn’t find anything suspicious inside.

They believe this was likely a swatting incident.  That’s when a caller disguises their number and tries to get a SWAT team to respond to an address.

Hundreds of these cases are reported every year, according to the Associated Press.

It says these calls have proven to be dangerous and even deadly at times.

An officer in Kansas shot and killed a man while responding to a hoax emergency call in 2017.

Police in Maryland shot another man in the face with rubber bullets during a fake hostage situation.