Slain-man call in Jackson turns out to be false alarm

An emergency call brought Jackson police, a SWAT team and the Missouri State Highway Patrol to a home Sunday night in uptown Jackson.

A man called police and said a man had been killed inside a residence at the 500 block of Nellie Street.

But when police arrived, the only person inside was a woman who said she had no idea what was going on.

"We don't really know where the call came from," said Jackson Police Capt. Rodney Barnes.

Police had reason to suspect the caller was inside the house, armed and dangerous, and deployed a tactical vehicle and a six-man SWAT team.

SWAT team leader Lt. Tony Henson said the house was cleared, and no suspects or dead body were found.

"I think we may have been 'swatted,'" Barnes said, referring to the practice of summoning police to someone's house as a prank or to scare the occupants. "But we responded appropriately."