My House Got Swatted, And Now I Don’t Know What To Do.

Location: Massachusetts/ Florida

This is still an ongoing and open investigation, so I am being slightly vague with the details.

Last week at 1:40am, an individual called the local police stating he harmed his mom with a gun and she was unresponsive, he identified himself as a 13 year old and gave the dispatcher my address. A large police response was initiated from several surround towns, and several police officers with rifles surrounded my house. Fortunately, the dispatcher was able to get my number and get in touch with me but I still had to walk outside and be swarmed by the officers and then my house was searched. To say this was a terrifying and traumatizing experience is an understatement.

I have two kids (14 and 3) and my oldest had a few friends sleeping over. One of those friends had added someone he met via an online game to snap chat and we believe his location was on and that is how he got our address. We did meet with a detective the following day and gave all the information we had.

We believe this individual lives in Florida, and we live in Massachusetts. I did speak with the detective the other day and unfortunately he is unable to give me many details but he did say they believe they are close to identifying the individual, he said he would not be able to give me his identity as he believes it is a minor.

My questions:

What are the consequences this individual may be facing? What are our legal rights, are we able to sue for emotional damages (if he is a minor and in a different state) and is that even worth it.