It is a high-stakes prank that creates confusion amongst emergency services and sparks panic in those who are victimized.
There has been a rash of recent "swatting" calls in Canada, but police say there's "nothing" funny about the behaviour.
The trend, which originated in the U.S., has seen celebrities, including Ashton Kutcher, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus, become victims of the hoax. The goal is to have armed police SWAT teams dispatched to a supposedly high-risk situation, such as a bomb threat or an active shooter.
They also often involve technology that can mask the location of a caller.
The latest incident Tuesday forced five Toronto-area schools to activate emergency plans, sparking panic among students and parents.
Gordon Graydon Senior Public School in Brampton, Ont., was placed in a temporary lockdown this morning after police received a threatening call. An unidentified caller told them they had "armed themselves with weapons" and intended to "harm people." The alleged threat also placed four nearby schools in a temporary hold-and-secure mode.
Minutes after the call, heavily armed tactical officers descended on Gordon Graydon.
While school had yet to begin, Daniel Gardner, 12, was getting some extracurricular math instruction when he was told to hide under a table.
"The teacher said they don’t know what's going on -- just (to) stay quiet and go under the table," Gardner told CTV Toronto on Tuesday after the lockdown was lifted.
But upon arrival, police realized that there was no shooter and it was all a hoax.
Peel Regional Police Const. Lily Fitzpatrick said that these types of calls are "not a joke" and waste police resources.
"Somebody who does this, they're not a hero, they're not funny, they've got nothing to be proud of," Fitzpatrick told The Canadian Press.
"This is a huge amount of police resources that are deployed to an area because public safety is our number one concern," she added.
Two days earlier, police responded to a call from an unidentified man who said his father had shot one of his family members with an assault rifle and he was hiding in the closet.
But when police entered the home in Richmond Hill, Ont., they found two adults and two children sleeping, with no knowledge of the situation.
There have been number of recent incidents in Canada.
Police in the Niagara region evacuated a mall Tuesday after receiving a potential "swatting" call. A man called back later, informing police that the incident was a hoax.
A 16-year-old boy from Ottawa is facing 60 criminal charges after being accused of being involved in at least 30 "swatting" cases throughout North America earlier this month.
The incidents allegedly occurred in the GTA, Quebec, Alberta, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas and California.
Two other teens – a 15-year-old from Laval. Que., and a boy from Milton, Ont., -- were also recently charged with swatting-related offences.
With files from CTV Toronto and The Canadian Press
