A caller claiming he had shot a woman and strapped an explosive device to his body inside a Danby Court home triggered a major Petaluma police response Friday evening, before officers determined the entire report was a hoax and found the residence's elderly occupant safe and alone. The false alarm, known as swatting, began around 7:09 PM and was resolved by 8 PM, according to Petaluma police.
The male caller told a third-party crisis service — which then relayed the threats to local dispatchers — that he was armed with a firearm, had shot a female inside the residence, and had an elderly family member injured inside as well, according to The Press Democrat. He also claimed to have an explosive device strapped to his body and threatened to shoot if officers arrived. As SFGATE reported, routing the call through a crisis hotline rather than dialing 911 directly is a tactic that lets swatting callers obscure their physical location from local dispatch.
Officers established a perimeter around the residence and temporarily restricted access to Danby Court while Petaluma Fire Department personnel staged nearby in case of injuries. Rather than approach the home blind, police deployed an unmanned aircraft system to assess the residence from the air, a tactic the department is authorized to use during high-risk events under its drone program guidelines. Dispatchers and officers worked to identify and contact whoever was inside, and eventually made contact with the elderly female resident, who exited the home unharmed.
No Shooting, No Bomb, No Second Person Inside
The woman told officers no shooting or other violent incident had occurred and that no other person was inside the home, confirming what a search of the residence would also show. Officers ultimately confirmed there was no armed subject, no injured victim and no explosive device anywhere on the property. The homeowner separately confirmed an elderly family member was inside the home at the time, and the incident resulted in no reported injuries.
Dispatchers and officers conducted extensive records checks as part of the response, and police say the original emergency report was determined to be false. A community safety notification issued during the incident was canceled once the scene was cleared around 8 p.m.
The Legal Stakes for Whoever Made the Call
Petaluma police are now investigating the source of the false report and are asking anyone with related information to come forward. Under California Penal Code Section 148.3, knowingly making a false emergency report to a public agency is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, according to FindLaw. The same statute makes anyone convicted liable for the full, reasonable costs public agencies incur responding to the hoax.
If a caller knows or should know that the response is likely to cause death or great bodily injury, and such harm results, the charge escalates under Penal Code Section 148.3(b) to a felony carrying up to $10,000 in fines and potential state prison time, according to Eisner Gorin LLP. California lawmakers have been trying to close gaps in the law as swatting tactics evolve; State Senator Susan Rubio introduced SB 19 in March 2025 to stiffen penalties and address cases where callers do not explicitly name a targeted individual, according to the California State Senate.
Part of a Wider Pattern Across Sonoma County
Friday's hoax is not an isolated event locally. In March, law enforcement in nearby Windsor responded to a swatting threat at Windsor High School involving a fake bomb claim and a $10,000 extortion demand, which triggered a campus lockdown, explosive-detection dogs and aerial drone sweeps, according to Patch. In 2022, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office investigated a false bomb threat that forced the evacuation of a Guerneville Safeway before determining it was a hoax tied to broader regional incidents.
Nationally, the FBI launched a centralized tracking database in 2023 called the National Common Operational Picture Virtual Command Center, allowing agencies to log and cross-reference swatting hoaxes across jurisdictions in near real time. Whether federal resources are assisting Petaluma's investigation into Friday's caller remains an open question, as does whether the Danby Court household was specifically targeted or chosen at random.
Petaluma police say anyone with information related to the false report is encouraged to contact the department at 969 Petaluma Blvd N. Tips can also be submitted by texting TIPPETPD, along with a message, to 888777.
