‘My heart was flying out my chest’: Innocent man put in handcuffs after Volusia County swatting call

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A 911 call saying a man was going to kill his wife and kids led to an innocent man being put in handcuffs in Volusia County.

“My heart was flying out my chest,” Sandile Hunter Mgidi said.

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Deputies are now searching for the person who made the hoax call that sent dozens of deputies to a home on Gondolier Terrace in the Deltona area near Interstate 4 and Normandy Boulevard.

The 911 caller told deputies that a man killed his wife and was getting ready to kill his kids at the home. But the sheriff’s office said the whole thing was made up.

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But for the people who live at the home, what happened next was very real.

About a dozen deputies drew their guns and commanded Mgidi to slowly move toward them Monday night.

“I was a little nervous that I was gonna trip and make the wrong move and they were gonna shoot me,” he said.

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Mgidi was in town from New Jersey visiting his friends Kaitlyn Gorczyca and Christopher Valentin who had just moved to Deltona.

Gorczyca and Valentin were at the grocery store when deputies showed up back at their home, drawing their guns and handcuffing Mgidi.

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said these so-called “swatting” calls seem to be happening more often.

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“These idiots who are making the calls, they either want to harass the person who they’re making the call on or they are hoping that the police or the homeowner make a fatal mistake,” Chitwood said.

“You look all over the internet and usually it ends bad, someone getting killed … thank God it didn’t come to that,” Valentin said.

“It’s very scary because it could be anyone,” Gorczyca added.

Chitwood said detectives have some leads on possible suspects. When they’re caught, they could face several charges.

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