SWAT Team Raids Gamer's Home During Twitch Stream

A Twitch streamer based in St Cloud, Minnesota, on Thursday aired an emotional message to the anonymous culprit who summoned a SWAT team to raid his home.

Joshua Peters, who serves in the US Air Force, broke down in tears on camera after explaining that--moments prior--an armed SWAT team of about ten officers had forced their way through his home.

Police were called to Peters' abode while he was playing a livestream of Runescape in front of an estimated 60,000 viewers. Webcam footage shows Peters lifting off his headset after his mother, off-camera, explains that officers have entered the house.

Moments later, Peter returns to the camera to explain his family had been raided by police due to a fake distress call. It was one of Peters' ten year-old brothers who answered the front door when armed police arrived.

"I had police point a gun at my little brothers because of you," Peters said in a message to the anonymous culprit, who had also posted his address on the Twitch stream chat log.

"They could have been shot, they could have died because you chose to SWAT my stream," he said, holding his emotions.

"I don't give a shit about what you have against me, or what I did to you. For that, I am at a loss for words. Your gripe is with me so let it be with me and do not involve my family in any way, shape or form with this. They don't deserve that."

The illegal hoax call, known as swatting, involves obtaining someone's home address (usually via their IP address) and making a distress call to the police. Often the hoaxer will use masking software that makes the call appear to come from the victim's house.

While no one has yet died from the prank, one victim of the hoax believes the punishment for the culprits should be an attempted murder sentence.

In an unrelated case, a 19 year-old Las Vegas teen is expected to appear in court on Monday, charged with a spate of Swatting hoaxes. Brandon Wilson, who goes by the online handle "Famed God," faces up to five years in prison.

Peters, meanwhile, says he has been overwhelmed with support from the community following the prank.