The 16-year-old 'Fortnite' player who won $3 million at the Fortnite World Cup was 'swatted' during a stream
- The 16-year-old professional "Fortnite" player who won $3 million last month at the Fortnite World Cup just got "swatted" while streaming.
- Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf was streaming "Fortnite" when his father informed him that "armed police" were at the front door.
- "Swatting" is the act of reporting a made up crime to police with the intent of disrupting and/or harming someone. In this case, it appears that one or more people reported a crime at Giersdorf's parents' home where he lives as well.
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The 16-year-old professional "Fortnite" player who won $3 million last month at the Fortnite World Cup was, understandably, surprised when his father informed him during a stream that "armed police" were at the front door.
Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf was streaming "Fortnite" on Sunday evening with two friends when he suddenly left during a crucial end-of-match moment. "Did he just leave, mid-game?" his teammate says in a video of the moment, which was captured because Giersdorf was streaming on Twitch when the police arrived.
If you listen to the exchange carefully, you can hear Giersdorf ask his father with surprise, "I got swatted?"
No one was hurt in the exchange, which Giersdorf chalks up to one of the responding officers knowing him from the neighborhood.
"I got swatted," he says when he returns to the stream. "I was lucky, because the one officer ... he lives in our neighborhood."
In case you're unfamiliar, "swatting" is the act of falsely reporting a crime with the intent of harming and/or scaring someone else. In the case of Giersdorf, a person or persons reported a crime at his house, thus causing armed police to show up at his front door.
Read more: This 16-year-old gamer is $3 million richer after winning the Fortnite World Cup
"They come in with guns, bro. They literally pulled up," Giersdorf said when asked about what happened. "What if I just got popped?"
Part of what makes swatting so dangerous is the potential for law enforcement to harm the swatting target or their loved ones. In 2017, for instance a 28-year-old Kansas man was killed by police who responded to what they were misled to believe was a reported murder.
Watch Giersdorf react to his swatting right here: