Bodycam video shows Florida deputies with guns drawn, responding to fake 911 call
By: The Volusia Sheriff's Office has released body-camera video of the moment deputies showed up at a Deltona, Florida home after receiving a fake 911 call.
"Come outside. Unarmed. Hands up. This is the Volusia Sheriff's Office," a deputy could be heard saying over a loudspeaker.
The video shows Sandile "Hunter" Mgidi, who is visiting from New Jersey, coming face to face Monday night with about a dozen deputies who had their weapons drawn.
"I see everyone pointing a gun at me, and I'm freaking out. I'm like, ‘Whoa, what the heck is going on?’" he told FOX 35 on Wednesday.
In the video, you can see Mgidi kneeling down before a deputy eventually puts him into handcuffs.
"I'm utterly confused," Mgidi told the deputy. "Yup, so are we," the deputy responded.
RELATED: Deltona couple, friend targeted by hoax 911 call, prompting deputies to draw guns
At the time, Mgidi had no idea why they were there, and he wasn't who deputies thought they'd find.
"We got a call that said that someone came home from work, shot their wife, tied the kids up, and was going to light the house," a deputy told him. "Oh, my God," Mgidi responded.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood says Mgidi and the couple he was visiting were victims of what's called swatting. It's happening more often, and catching the people behind these fake calls can sometimes be difficult.
"I've had it happen at my house and my parents. We had it happen at synagogues. It's just really, really dangerous," Chitwood said. "The objective of these calls is either have an officer get killed or the officer kill the person that is at the home we're responding to."
For those on the receiving end of these calls, it's no laughing matter.
"I could have lost my life off of someone, I don't know, trying to be vindictive, funny, whatever was their motive, of making that phone call," Mgidi said.
Chitwood says investigators are actively working to identify the caller.