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Fortnite World Champion Got 'Swatted'

Luckily one of the officers recognized Giersdorf and the situation was resolved quickly, but the act of swatting is a dangerous waste of time and resources.

 & Matthew Humphries Former Senior Editor

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Last month, 16-year-old Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf walked away from the Fortnite World Cup $3 million richer. On Sunday, his livestream of Fortnite was interrupted when armed police arrived at his door.

As BusinessInsider reports, on Sunday evening during a play session of Fortnite which Giersdorf was live streaming, his father interrupted him because armed police were at the door. In a recording of the stream, Giersdorf can be heard to say, "I got swatted?"

At the time, Giersdorf simply abandoned the game much to the surprise of his teammate and friends. Later on he rejoins the stream and explains what happened. Nobody was hurt and the situation was resolved quickly because one of the officers recognized Giersdorf from the neighborhood and they soon figured out what had happened.

Not only is the act of swatting a huge waste of time and resources for law enforcement, it's also dangerous for the individuals in the house targeted. The police arrive after having received a report of a crime, so they go in armed and ready to react to a bad situation.

You may remember back in March, 26-year-old Tyler Barriss was sentenced to 20 years in jail for his swatting prank that killed an innocent bystander. Hopefully the police manage to track down who placed this latest swatting call and prosecutes them to the full extent of the law.

About Our Expert

Matthew Humphries

Matthew Humphries

Former Senior Editor

My Experience

I started working at PCMag in November 2016, covering all areas of technology and video game news. Before that I spent nearly 15 years working at Geek.com as a writer and editor. I also spent the first six years after leaving university as a professional game designer working with Disney, Games Workshop, 20th Century Fox, and Vivendi.

I hold two degrees: a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Games Development. My first book, Make Your Own Pixel Art, is available from all good book shops.

My Areas of Expertise

  • PC components and system building
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Software development
  • Storage technology
  • Video games and gaming hardware

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