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HOOPER — A report of a Sunday morning shooting in Weber County turned out to be a hoax, officials said.
Someone called in to law enforcement officials and reported a shooting involving a father and son, Weber County Sheriff’s Lt. Matt Jensen said.
Several law enforcement units then were called to the scene near 5358 S. 7500 West, because officials take such reports very seriously, Jensen said. But the shooting turned out to be made up, he said.
Investigators were still trying to find the person responsible for the false claim as of Sunday afternoon, Jensen said. If found, that person would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, he added.
As crews on scene were waiting for a SWAT team to arrive, the homeowner came out of the home, and deputies questioned him, Jensen said. They evacuated and searched the home and eventually determined that there was no one in the home who had been shot, and the call was a prank, he said.
There were seven people in the home at the time, Jensen said. A report of a possible shooting takes up a lot of law enforcement resources, he said.
"It ties up a lot of resources, it pulls people away from other areas," Jensen said. "It’s very time consuming, very frustrating."
