- An 81-year-old Minecraft streamer in Arizona was swatted during a live fundraiser stream
- Police arrived in tactical gear after a false report claimed she was shot and killed
- The livestream aimed to raise funds for her grandson Jack’s cancer treatment expenses
An elderly woman's Minecraft livestream took an unexpected turn when police showed up at her door in Queen Creek, Arizona, after someone apparently told the authorities that she had been shot and killed, 12 News reported. Popular as "GrammaCrackers", Sue Jacquot plays video games to raise money for her grandson's cancer treatment. The 81-year-old streamer has more than 600,000 YouTube subscribers. She creates Minecraft videos alongside her grandsons, Jack and Austin Self.
According to the report, the family recently started a 24/7 livestream fundraiser to help cover Jack Self's medical expenses. "He's had 200 chemo treatments in like a year and a half, and that's a lot of expensive bills that the insurance company won't touch," Jacquot said as quoted.
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The police had taken action on the night of May 18 during a live stream. The family revealed that they received a call from the police at around 11:00 pm (local time), after they had been streaming continuously for nearly 15 days.
"We got a call that Jack shot his grandma and killed her, and that he was going to kill himself, and right then I was like, whoa," Jack Self said. "It was kind of like a, like a punch to the stomach," Jack shared their reaction, revealing that it was a swatting call, in which someone falsely reports a crime or emergency to 911.
Videos shared on social platforms show over a dozen police officers in full tactical gear, which also included riot shields and rifles. The police surrounded her home and asked everyone inside to come outside with their hands up.
"They came in, and one person took one arm and the other the other, and they just sort of escorted me out, and they were apologising. And there was a police lady, gorgeous, beautiful bag, she was so sweet, but I think she could have kicked butt, you know, if, if there'd been a problem," Jacquot said.
On being asked her reaction when the police came to the door, Jacquot laughed, saying, "I had just thought, what would my grandkids have done?"
"The knowledge that we know is that it came from a French accent, French accent, they're not exactly sure where it was from," Jack Self said.
81 year old grandma & YouTuber was raided last night during her stream She started the channel to help with her grandson's cancer treatment. Authorities brought 20 police cars, five SWAT officers, and drones to her house
by u/raptors201966 in SipsTea
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The incident was traumatising for the entire family, with Austin Self questioning, "Whether it's harm or they want us to get upset, or they want to upset Grandma Crackers on stream. The police were so professional and amazing that it minimized. "
Jacquot also said that she is not going to stop. "I've got to get up tomorrow, I can't stay up and stew about this, so I took a Benadryl and went to bed, and that's how I handle it," she said.
The next day, she returned to streaming. "You think they're not going to tell me what I can do. They're not going to make me afraid to do that," Jacquot said.
The family also thanked the social media users for being supportive. "They've been so kind, and they've been concerned about how I was. How are you doing? How is this going on? We love you, we love you, we're so sorry for this, and they've been so supportive," Jacquot said.
