Late last night the offices of Los Angeles-based independent game studio Robotoki were stormed by the Los Angeles Police Department after a curious designer pressed the building's "panic" button, studio founder Robert Bowling told Polygon.
The 911 response ended in a tense showdown with a life-sized statue of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's Simon "Ghost" Riley, which the police mistook for a gunman.
Earlier today reports circulated that the studio had been the victim of a "swatting" prank, in which a third party tricks law enforcement authorities or emergency services by providing details of a made-up threat, triggering an emergency response dispatch to the target of the prank. Swatting pranks are not limited to 911 calls; swatters can spoof a victim's phone number, obtain and use a victim's personal information or hack phone and computer systems.
Bowling clarified that it wasn't a prank, but the mischievousness of an unnamed designer that brought the LAPD to his door.
"Our studio is equipped with a 'panic' alarm in case of an armed threat, which was installed yesterday," Bowling said. "One of our designers, who shall not be shamed, pressed it on his way out because apparently when boys find buttons that they are unsure of, their first instinct is to push it."
Bowling said the panic alarm was installed as a precaution to protect his team, "as game developers receive their fair share of death threats." He noted that Robotoki hasn't had any issues with threats, but it is something Bowling is familiar with from his days at Infinity Ward.
"So after pushing it, everyone went home for the day, leaving their lonely studio head to receive the assault of their actions," he added.
At 7:10 p.m. four officers arrived at the front of the building only to find that there was no way to get in from that side. As they moved around toward the back where Robotoki's entrance is located, the officers spotted Bowling's life-sized statue of Ghost standing at attention with his gun at the ready.
So they made entry.
"I was in my office when they arrived and saw them coming up our stairs, guns drawn," Bowling said. "They yelled for me to put my hands up and walk towards them slowly, then took me into custody and out of the studio until they cleared the rest of the rooms and floors."
Bowling said about 15 minutes later the officers emerged, laughing — they had mistaken Ghost for a real threat and had nearly taken him down. The photo above was taken from Robotoki's security cameras and shows the moment the cops approached Bowling's office.
Once they realized Bowling was neither a threat nor a hostage, discussion fell to Bowling's line of work and the ordeal ended with a round of video games using the office's NES controller table.
Bowling said there was no harm done and he was not fined for the false alarm. They chalked it up as a mistake, a miscommunication or misdirected prank.
"Until we reviewed the security footage and saw our designer's curiosity to be the cause."
That's not a statue that should fucking exist. And if it must, it should NOT be put somewhere in public view where it can be misunderstood. Jesus Christ that is some irresponsible shit.
Something similar happened to my mate a few years ago:
In the end, he did make it. “I’m a very strong swimmer and I had total confidence in it,” Morillo said. “But at the same time, it’s not worth it,” he added, considering he’s been banned from all waterfront property in the city, will face a $5,000 to $25,000 fine for swimming in a shipping channel, and he’s upset his mom. “She just hung up on me,” Morillo told the Star. “She said, ‘You’re just so stupid.’”
This guys is so screwed. The total damages is just... I mean how can anyone recoup that? It has to be rounded up, because it's obviously a gross over-estimation.
While I agree that being insensitive is an issue, so is being oversensitive.
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L Ron HowardThe duckMinnesotaRegistered Userregular
The two comments in that article are actually hilarious.
This guys is so screwed. The total damages is just... I mean how can anyone recoup that? It has to be rounded up, because it's obviously a gross over-estimation.
Maybe the driver makes $60/hr and it took a whole minute to clean up?
Miss Mexico looks like Michael Jackson, and that's just not right
Miss Peru's little friend on her back is eerie as fuck
Miss USA... Why? I don't even want to know the answer, but I'm just going to ask the question... WHY?!?!?!?!
What's wrong with Miss India? Seems to me like it fits nicely in the "sexy cultural representation" category, not the "out of control" category, especially between Panama and Costa Rica.
EDIT: And you can't talk about "not right" without talking about Miss UK's Sexy Queen Elizabeth II costume. And is it just me, or does Miss Curacao's costume look like it was designed by a class of kindergartners?
EDIT2: Yeah WTF Miss Peru? My first thought was that she had a second head growing out of her shoulder. As for Miss USA, the only way that costume would have looked good is if it actually transformed into a car midway through her walkway walk and she rolled out of the stage.
Then men threatened him with a gun, burned him with cigarettes and beat him, then called Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold, a friend of Young’s, demanding Cooper’s arrest.
Detectives refused to arrest Cooper without a warrant for failing to come through on an illegal ticket scalping venture, but the three men took him to the sheriff’s office anyway.
yeah that headline is disappointingly misleading. i was really hoping for a story about 3 weirdos that just really wanted to go a Bieber concert, rather than a story about a mundane and botched criminal enterprise.
I don't believe a word of this. What violent person would ever be into a boy band?
Marky Mark.
Wahlberg had been in trouble 20–25 times with the Boston Police Department in his youth. By age 13, Wahlberg had developed an addiction to cocaine and other substances.[8][9] At fifteen, he harassed a group of black school children on a field trip by throwing rocks and shouting racial epithets.[10] At 16, Wahlberg approached a middle-aged Vietnamese man on the street and, using a large wooden stick, knocked him unconscious (while calling him "Vietnam fucking shit"). He also attacked another Vietnamese man, leaving him permanently blind in one eye.[11][12]
For these crimes, Wahlberg was charged with attempted murder, pleaded guilty to assault, and was sentenced to two years in state prison at Boston's Deer Island House of Correction, of which he served 45 days.[11][13] In another incident, the 21-year-old Wahlberg fractured the jaw of a neighbor in an unprovoked attack.[14] Commenting in 2006 on his past crimes, Wahlberg has stated: "I did a lot of things that I regret, and I have certainly paid for my mistakes." He said the right thing to do would be to try to find the blinded man and make amends, and admitted he has not done so, but added that he was no longer burdened by guilt: "You have to go and ask for forgiveness and it wasn't until I really started doing good and doing right by other people, as well as myself, that I really started to feel that guilt go away. So I don't have a problem going to sleep at night. I feel good when I wake up in the morning."[15]
After going to prison for assault, he decided to improve his behavior. According to Wahlberg, "As soon as I began that life of crime, there was always a voice in my head telling me I was going to end up in jail. Three of my brothers had done time. My sister went to prison so many times I lost count. Finally I was there, locked up with the kind of guys I'd always wanted to be like. Now I'd earned my stripes and I was just like them, and I realized it wasn't what I wanted at all. I'd ended up in the worst place I could possibly imagine and I never wanted to go back. First of all, I had to learn to stay on the straight and narrow." Wahlberg first relied on the guidance of his parish priest to turn his back on crime. He told his street gang that he was leaving them and had "some serious fights" with them over it. The actor commented in 2009: "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life and I've done bad things, but I never blamed my upbringing for that. I never behaved like a victim so that I would have a convenient reason for victimizing others. Everything I did wrong was my own fault. I was taught the difference between right and wrong at an early age. I take full responsibility."[16]
The last line of the article is a bit of newspaper humour. It reads: "Without divination, we can affirm that he will appear at the Québec City courthouse this afternoon."
We are literally having a witch trial! *glee*
He is also being charged with fraud in excess of $5,000, which is how much a lady paid him for witchcraft acts that he allegedly failed to deliver on.
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Something similar happened to my mate a few years ago:
manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/cops-swoop-on-lara-croft-dummy-992032
Of course, I like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo shirt. However, we all know that this is the real Jesus: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QpF8urQJAC4/T-ykeW3oa0I/AAAAAAAAAjA/sSwrJ2L9KhM/s1600/Jesus.jpg
I don't believe a word of this. What violent person would ever be into a boy band?
This guys is so screwed. The total damages is just... I mean how can anyone recoup that? It has to be rounded up, because it's obviously a gross over-estimation.
Maybe the driver makes $60/hr and it took a whole minute to clean up?
A couple of things to note:
Miss Guatemala looks Shin Megami Tensei.
EDIT: And you can't talk about "not right" without talking about Miss UK's Sexy Queen Elizabeth II costume. And is it just me, or does Miss Curacao's costume look like it was designed by a class of kindergartners?
EDIT2: Yeah WTF Miss Peru? My first thought was that she had a second head growing out of her shoulder. As for Miss USA, the only way that costume would have looked good is if it actually transformed into a car midway through her walkway walk and she rolled out of the stage.
Posted without further comment.
Marky Mark.
Camel Racing with Robots
It also combats child abuse.
Robots are superior to children.
But can any of those robots make a pair of shoes for pennies a day? I think not.
I'm a big fan of the last one.
Yes, you read that right... And Yeah, I know it's not real news, but it's hilarious
However, if you want to do it like a pro...
pleasepaypreacher.net
This is one of the most amazing things I have ever read.
My co-worker got to "Garfield man" and got distracted. Below was his google search result:
The last line of the article is a bit of newspaper humour. It reads: "Without divination, we can affirm that he will appear at the Québec City courthouse this afternoon."
We are literally having a witch trial! *glee*
He is also being charged with fraud in excess of $5,000, which is how much a lady paid him for witchcraft acts that he allegedly failed to deliver on.