POLICE/FIRE REPORTS

POLICE INVESTIGATING HOAX PHONE CALL ABOUT KILLING, HOSTAGE

New London — City police said they responded to a hoax phone call from a man who claimed he’d killed one person and held another person hostage in a home on Linden Street Sunday.

According to a news release, police received the call at 7:20 a.m.

After arriving at the home and setting up a perimeter, police said they determined the call was a “swatting call,” a type of hoax phone call used by one person to report serious crimes in order to get heavily-armed police to descend rapidly on another person’s house.

“Swatting” began as a popular prank among “mischief-making” video game players, according to cable news network CNN.

But police warned any wouldbe “swatters” that the calls “create a very real and substantial risk to first responders and the general public.”

Police are asking anyone with information about the Linden Street incident to call the department’s detective bureau at (860) 447-1481, or to text NLPDTip plus the information to TIP411.

NL POLICE INVESTIGATE REPORT OF SHOTS FIRED

New London — City police said they are investigating reports of gunfire that took place early Sunday morning in the area of West Coit Street and Connecticut Avenue.

“The incident does not appear to be a random act and no injuries were reported as a result of this shooting,” police said.

At about 2:54 a.m., police said they responded to the area and found evidence that multiple shots had been fired. The department’s Investigative Services Division followed up to process the scene and collect further evidence.

Police said they are still investigating, and ask anyone with information about the shooting to call the department’s detective bureau at (860) 447-1481, or to text NLPDTip plus the information to TIP411.