Fortnite World Champion, Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf was swatted yesterday while playing. Business Insider reported that the 16-year-old was playing online the yesterday when armed police arrived at his door. During a Twitch stream with players FaZe Dubs and Ghost Bizzle, Bugha was informed by his father when the armed officers arrived. Thankfully, no one was harmed in the incident, but there has been no word on police knowing who phoned in the fake threat is.
Bugha explained that he believes the situation didn’t escalate thanks to one of the officer’s who knows him. “He lives in our neighborhood,” Bugha stated when he returned to his stream. You can see the moment Bugha is pulled away from stream in the clip below. If you listen carefully, you can hear the young man ask “I got swatted?” to his father.
Bugha recently obtained international fame for winning the Fortnite World Cup in New York City a few weeks ago. For the unfamiliar, swatting is when someone anonymously calls the police with a false report of someone committing a crime. The hope is to either cause harm to the victim or harass them. This has become a growing tactic that popular streamers such as Dr. Disrespect have suffered from.
Recently, 26-year-old Tyler Barriss was sentenced for 20 years in federal prison following the death of Kansas resident Andrew Finch. Shot and killed by police, Finch was the victim of swatting following an argument in Call of Duty.
We will update this piece if any new information is revealed surrounding Bugha’s swatting incident.