Call Claiming Shooting Sends Police to Lincoln Avenue Home
ASHLAND, Ohio — A caller who claimed to have shot her mother drew Ashland Police Division Officers, Ashland County Sheriff’s Office Deputies, Ashland Fire Department Medics, and Ashland Police Division’s Special Response Team to a Lincoln Avenue home Sunday night. Police found no shooting or medical emergency inside and are investigating the call as a swatting incident.
The caller initially reached an Ohio State Highway Patrol dispatcher, gave the address of a home in the 100 block of Lincoln Avenue and said she had shot her mother during what she described as a mental health episode. In a recording provided to ACP News, she said she thought her mother was dead and still had the gun. The patrol dispatcher relayed the report to Ashland Police Division and Ashland Fire Dispatch, Wooster-Ashland Regional Council of Governments (WARCOG)
Sgt. Abrahm Neumann wrote in an Ashland Police Division report that he spoke with the caller several times after officers arrived. She claimed she had used a handgun, had access to long guns and would shoot officers if they tried to arrest her. She also said she would kill herself. Neumann said the caller repeatedly ended their conversations, and the number he had been calling was eventually disconnected.
Officers had established a perimeter around the home. Neumann recognized the address from an earlier call and tried to determine who now lived there. He reached a relative of the residents, who immediately suspected they were being “swatted again,” according to his report.
Two adults, came out of the house and were escorted away. Special Response Team members entered and cleared the home. Four children were brought out, and officers found no threat or medical emergency.
The report provides a possible lead in the investigation. One of the children told Neumann she had been playing Roblox that evening when another user sent her a message asking what she would do if police came to her address. The user sent an address; the child said it was incorrect and replied with her family’s former address. She also told Neumann she used a name similar to the caller’s claimed name while playing the game.
The victim told police the family had been swatted before at its former resident. Neumann wrote that police confirmed one earlier incident in department records.
The dispatch log shows a swatting request was sent to the FBI during Sunday night’s response. Neumann also documented later anonymous calls to a police phone, including calls from a male who gave a name and claimed to be in Colorado. The report does not establish whether those calls came from the person who made the shooting report.
The police report lists telecommunications harassment, misuse of the 911 system and swatting under “Charge Information,” but marks the case “investigation pending.” It does not identify a suspect.
