Manitoba teen facing additional charges related to 'swatting' calls in U.S.: RCMP
An 18-year-old from Manitoba previously arrested in connection with ‘swatting’ incidents in the United States was arrested again in connection with additional incidents.
Sean Murdock from Fisher River was arrested on Wednesday and is facing an additional six charges of public mischief. The charges have not been proven in court.
Murdock was previously arrested in September 2021 in connection with two swatting incidents in Tennessee and two in North Carolina. ‘Swatting’ sees a person making a phone call falsely describing a life-threatening situation to provoke an armed police response.
In the September incidents, calls were made saying a man was inside a school with a firearm and was going to start shooting. The schools were placed on lockdown and a large number of police officers, including SWAT officers, attended. The calls were found to be false.
RCMP examined electronic devices seized from Murdock’s home during his initial arrest and determined he allegedly made six additional swatting calls to various police departments in the United States.
The police departments were located in Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Illinois.
“These calls ranged from threats made in relation to an active shooter to bomb threats involving large facilities,” RCMP said in a statement. “As a result of these phone calls, numerous law enforcement personnel were dispatched to these locations which were all determined to be false.”
Murdock is scheduled to appear in court on March 8 in Peguis First Nation, Manitoba.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.