RICEVILLE, IOWA – A fake call to police about a murder that never took place sent several surrounding law enforcement agencies scrambling, only to learn a swatter attempted to fool them.
According to Mitchell county Sheriff Greg Beaver, at or about 1:33 AM on the morning on February 23, 2026, both the Mitchell County Communications center and the Howard County Communications center received a call regarding a potential homicide that had occurred in Riceville, Iowa.
Responding law enforcement agencies established a perimeter in the area of the report. During the course of the investigation, it was concluded that no homicide occurred as reported to law enforcement. Further investigation throughout the night and continuing into today indicates this to be a suspected SWATTING call, designed to lure law enforcement into a specific area or have first responders respond to an incident that is false in nature. This information provided by the caller has been turned over to the Iowa Fusion Center, Department of Public Safety for further investigation.
Agencies responding to the incident overnight were the Howard County Sheriff’s Office, Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office, Floyd and Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Offices, the Iowa State Patrol and the State Patrol tactical team, Osage Police Department, and the Riceville Fire and Ambulance Services.
“I would add that anyone with information regarding this incident to contact law enforcement in their area and provide any information they might have to aid in the investigation,” Sheriff Greg Beaver added.