What just happened? We've seen far too many stories in recent years about streamers being visited/arrested by cops following a swatting, but this story is a happier one. An Apex Legends player who had been calling out to his teammates for help was visited by police after they mistook his cries for those of distress---and it was all caught on camera.
Twitch streamer Vuzby had been engaged in an Apex Legends match that was getting pretty intense, leading to him loudly calling out for help from his teammates. Game Rant reports that someone heard the streamer's pleas and alerted two local Canadian police officers, who had also heard Vuzby shouting.
After knocking on his window, police tried the front door. Vuzby's girlfriend let them in, and they proceeded into the room where he was streaming the game. You can see in the clip how surprised he is to see the officer, explaining that he did scream for help, but it was "for content."
The policeman takes the whole thing in good humor, waving to the viewers and noting that screaming for help online while next to an open window is likely to attract the authorities' attention. "I hope you get lots of views on your channel," he added.
Well I never thought I would get SWATTED... but alas, here we are.
--- Alliestrasza (@Alliestrasza) February 10, 2022
Everything is okay, though. Just a little shaken up with nerves. The officers were great and handled everything very well.
They obviously had to take the threat seriously so our whole family was cuffed outside.
For many streamers, especially those in the US, the sight of police appearing unexpectedly can mean they've been swatted---the act of calling 911 to report a fake crime so armed responders storm an address. It recently happened to Twitch streamer Alexandra "Alliestrasza" Macpherson, a well-known Hearthstone player and a member of esports organization Fade 2 Karma. Her entire family were handcuffed during the incident. Thankfully, nobody came to any physical harm.