Overview

• Early on August 6 a woman falsely claimed to be shot and held hostage at 11 avenue du pic d’Ossau in Billère, prompting a large-scale emergency deployment.
• Some 100 officers from national and municipal police, firefighters, Samu and the RAID unit secured the building and evacuated nearby residents.
• Intervention teams forced entry into two apartments and found them empty because the occupants were on vacation.
• Phone triangulation showed the distress call did not originate in Billère, leading authorities to classify the incident as a probable swatting hoax.
• Investigators with the Pau public prosecutor’s office are working to identify and charge the caller under laws that carry up to two years in prison and a €30,000 fine.