SPRING, Texas — A family in Spring is grateful nobody was killed Tuesday night after somebody set them up by playing a dangerous prank.
The person made a call to a suicide hotline and said he was suicidal and about to murder his family. The name he gave them was Troy Taylor. As you may already know, pranks like these are called “swatting” and can sometimes end in tragedy. Luckily everyone in the Taylor family survived.
Troy Taylor said he and his wife were relaxing on the sofa at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday before getting ready for bed.
“We hear a bam, bam, bam, bam, on the door, like really hard,” Taylor said. “So, I’m thinking that someone is trying to kick the door in.”
Taylor ran upstairs to get his rifle.
“So, I go grab my gun to try to protect my family,” he said. “I go to the front and they say, 'It’s the police, open up.' Then I see the police in a flack jacket, it’s kind of glowing at the back door, getting ready to kick the back door in.”
Taylor said he put his gun away, and slowly opened the door, showing both of his empty hands, careful not to make any sudden moves.
“I don’t want to get hurt, or anybody else in the house to get hurt,” Taylor said. “And I see them with AR-15 rifles and everything.”
Harris County Precinct 4 deputy constables told Taylor, who was only wearing his underwear, to come outside. He asked if he could put his clothes on, but they refused. They started questioning Taylor. Ultimately, he is handcuffed and put in the back of a patrol car. Taylor said he was hurt in the process.
“It just kind of ripped this shoulder, and I’m in excruciating pain,” Taylor said. “But I’m trying to let them know, you got the wrong house. This is a mistake. I don’t know what’s going on.”
As Taylor was in the back of the unit, other deputies questioned his wife and mother inside the house.
He said deputies continued to question him, but none of them would tell him what it was all about.
“They keep asking me, ‘Are you sure you’re not depressed?’ They keep reiterating, ‘Are you sure you’re not going to hurt yourself or hurt somebody in the house?'” Taylor recounts. “I say, 'Look, I’m trying to live my best life. I’m trying to get in the gym. I’m trying to take care of this and that. Look, we’re happy. I still don’t understand.’”
Still confused, deputies ask Taylor to come with them into the house so they can see all of the family’s electronic devices. Taylor said after going through all of their phones, tablets and computers they finally took off his handcuffs.
“Because the IP address did not match, or whatever IP address was reported that made this message or call,” Taylor said.
“[The person who made the call] put the homeowners in danger, put the deputies in danger, by making up a salacious lie,” Pct 4 Capt. Jonathan Zitzmann said.
Zitzmann said the person behind this called the suicide hotline, told the person his name was Troy Taylor and that he was going to kill himself and his family. The person at the suicide hotline then called 911.
“Calling in a fake call to the suicide hotline or 911 is not acceptable and hopefully we’re going to get to the bottom of that,” Zitzmann said.
The Taylor family and deputies were lucky. This could have ended very badly.
“I did not want to be shot,” Taylor said. “I’m 0 and 0 for being shot and I want to keep it that way.”
Taylor said neither he nor anyone in his family has any enemies. He said none of this makes any sense.
“I don’t know who would do something like this,” Taylor said. “I don’t know if it’s some kind of joke, if it’s some kind of prank, I don’t know.”