At least 180 911 calls were placed to just one sheriff's office. But it turns out they were all pranks. INSIDE EDITION has the details.
Dispatcher: "This is the sheriff's office, how can I help you?"
Caller: "I'm getting shot."
Dispatcher: "Where were you shot?"
Caller: "In the stomach."
It was a dramatic call for help.
Dispatcher: "Are you bleeding a lot?"
Caller: (moans)
Dispatcher: "I need to know where you are, so I can get rescue to you."
The 911 operator was desperately trying to keep the dying man on the phone because she didn't know where to send police.
Dispatcher: "I need you to talk to me buddy. C'mon, you have to stay with me so I can get help to you."
Suddenly the line went dead.
It was pretty dramatic. But the thing is, there was never a shooting, and there was never a victim. It was a prank phone call, and it was the first of over 180 calls that went to one sheriff's department.
Prankster: "My daughter is not feeling good."
Dispatcher: "What's wrong?"
Prankster: "Well, she passed out."
When that call came in, dispatchers scrambled to find the unconscious child on Interstate 95.
Dispatcher: "They're going to be coming down the interstate lights and sirens as fast as they can."
Prankster: "I'm trying. It doesn't look good."
Dispatcher: "Do you know how to do CPR?"
Prankster: "No."
Dispatcher: "I can instruct you, okay?"
But the police were baffled when they get to the scene and no one was there.
Police: "We're passing the 325 right now. I don't see anything on the side of the road.
Dispatcher: "He's with his six-year-old daughter who is unconscious and not breathing."
Still believing a child's life was on the line, four sheriff's vehicles continued their frantic search, but found nothing.
Again the line went dead. Sergeant Chuck Mulligan of the St. John's County Sheriff's Office near Jacksonville, Florida says the calls kept coming, and they got more and more bizarre.
"He really did create a sense of chaos," Sgt. Mulligan told INSIDE EDITION.
He says they realized they were dealing with a skilled prankster.
Prankster: "I have a gun."
Dispatcher: "You have a gun? What are you going to do with that?"
Prankster: "I'm going to kill you all."
It was a real challenge to track the guy down. Using computer programs, the prankster was altering his voice and hiding his phone number so he couldn't be traced. He became so brazen, he started taunting the police.
Prankster: "Are you enjoying the prank calls?"
Dispatcher: "Not particularly."
Sgt. Mulligan says the calls tied up their emergency response system. "It's not only a drain on resources, it really does put citizens at risk," he says.
Finally, the FBI was called in and they tracked the source of the calls. The prankster was calling from a suburban home near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1,100 miles from the sheriff's department that was getting the calls.
Inside Edition caught up with the 20-year-old prankster near his home. His name is Mason Seckar, and he lives with his parents.
INSIDE EDITION Producer: "Why did you do it?"
Mason Seckar: "I was bored."
Producer: "You were bored. And you thought it was funny?"
Seckar: "Kind of."
Producer: "Do you still think it's funny?"
Seckar: "No."
Producer: "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Seckar: "Sorry."
"It becomes a potential tragedy waiting to happen if it continues," says Sgt. Mulligan.
The case remains under investigation and Seckar has not been charged, but could face a host of federal violations.
