York Regional Police are investigating, following an early morning swatting call on Sunday in Richmond Hill.

Investigators say 911 dispatchers received a call around 5:45 a.m. from a man in distress. The caller told the dispatcher that his father had an assault rifle and had shot a family member. A noise that sounds like gun shots could be heard on the audio file of the 911 call.

“My dad, Francis, he’s going crazy. He’s got his gun out,” the caller told the dispatcher

The caller informed the dispatcher of his address, and detailed information about his father, before the call abruptly ends.

Officers swarmed the Richmond Hill home and found two adults and two children who were surprised by the arrival of police.

“There are so many things going through my head, and of course there are some worries, scary and waking up all night,” says swatting victim Vincent Yan. “They asked me to kneel down, and they handcuffed me and took me out to the police car.”

Investigators quickly determined that the call was a hoax.

“We do believe that the homeowner had no knowledge of what had taken place, no knowledge of the event, no knowledge of the calls, and that what happened is called a swatting incident,” says York Regional Police Const.

The name comes from when SWAT teams have responded to fake emergencies like this one. Cases like this can be a challenge.

Apps and computer programs are creating new road blocks for police. That’s because phone numbers can now be easily disguised and voices changed with a click of button.

Aaron Weston runs Northern Protocol, a computer technology company in Barrie. He says there are countless apps out there that can mask a caller's identity.

“It's really easy, all you would have to do is go onto the website, enter in the phone number click a button that can change your voice and then call,” says Weston.

However, even though there is a sense of anonymity, Weston says police can find out a user’s real identity. Often that involves getting permission from the courts, and a lot of time.

“The reality is that everything is logged, and everything is monitored, so any websites you might access such as this one has a log file,” he says. “The telephone company also has a log file so there is no such thing as privacy on the internet.”

The investigation is ongoing, and at this point police still don't know where the call came from. Investigators are asking anyone with information to contact police or Crime Stoppers.