Hoax forced dozens to be evacuated and two nearby schools were closed

A webcam has captured the dramatic moment a SWAT team swept in and arrested an online gamer after a hoax call claimed he was armed and dangerous.

Jordan Mathewson was streaming a game of Counter-Strike yesterday when dozens of armed officers surrounded his office in Littleton, Colorado, and screamed at him to hit the deck.

A prank caller had told police he was a gunman who shot two colleagues and took hostages in the latest case of a worrying trend known as 'swatting'.

Scroll down for video

Prank: Jordan Mathewson (inset) was playing a game of Counter-Strike from his office in Littleton, Colorado, when he was descended on by an army of SWAT team officers who believed he was an out-of-control gunman

Put your hands up! The live stream captured the moment the gamer, known as Kootra, was arrested yesterday

It is a phenomenon in which pranksters - many of them online gamers - trigger an armed police raid as a joke and it has already caused sieges in Long Island, Arizona and Michigan.

Police warned yesterday the trend may one day result in an innocent person being shot dead.

Dozens of people were evacuated from the office building and two nearby schools were closed as a precaution.

Mr Mathewson, who goes by the name Kootra and has 220,000 Twitter followers, founded an online gaming group known as The Creatures and broadcasts daily on Youtube.

He was midway through one of his streams at 11.30am when he paused, hearing officers bursting into room after room in the office block.

'What in the world?' he said. 'I think we're getting swatted'.

Suddenly the officers crashed through the door screaming: 'Put your hands up! Get on the f****** ground! Don't you f****** move, you hear me boy?'

Confused: The officers asked the gamer what he was doing. When he said 'streaming', he had to elaborate

Stay on the ground: The team was in the room for several minutes as surrounding schools were locked down

'What about this is funny to you?' one officer asked, pointing his assault rifle towards the ground.

'What?' Mr Mathewson replied. 'I'm not doing anything that's funny'.

His game's audio track then announced with perfect timing: 'Terrorists win'.

The officers frisked and questioned their suspect while his online gaming friends continued their armed assault in the virtual world and even killed his character.

Shock: A colleague live-tweeted the huge police raid

The SWAT officers then appeared confused about what the gamer was doing and asked him to explain.

He replied: 'I'm sitting there playing a game, people are watching it, and I guess a joker thought it would be funny to call you guys in.'

Mr Mathewson then had to show the officers in excruciating detail how to switch the camera off.

A statement by the City of Littleton said police, firefighters and other agencies responded to the call and searched the building thoroughly twice before questioning several employees.

The spokesman added: 'The caller claimed to have shot two co-workers, held others hostage, and threatened to shoot them. He stated that if the officers entered he would shoot them as well.

'Law enforcement in the South Metro Area and throughout the country are all too familiar with active shooter situations. In the wake of these incidents, Littleton Police and other law enforcement agencies train for rapid response to quickly rescue victims and neutralize the situation.

'Fortunately there were no injuries today, but a massive law enforcement response wastes resources and greatly increases the chances of innocent people being injured or killed.

'If the investigation determines that today’s incident was a hoax, those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'

In April police warned swatting was becoming a national epidemic after an army of officers stormed a Long Island home under the belief a teen had shot dead his mother and brother and was ready to kill again.

Within minutes of arriving, they discovered the hostage call was an act of revenge by a disgruntled 'Call of Duty' gamer who'd just been defeated.

Harsh: As Mr Mathewson was frisked, his fellow players continued with their game and killed his character

Aftermath: Officers then realised it was a hoax. A City of Littleton statement said: 'A massive law enforcement response wastes resources and greatly increases the chances of innocent people being injured or killed'

And in Tuscon, Arizona, an imposter was said to have claimed a 15-year-old boy would descend on the University of Arizona with an M4 rifle and body armour.

The teenager said he believed he was the victim of somebody online 'that doesn't like me... for either me coding, or me playing video games.'

In April, last year MailOnline reported how CNN host Wolf Blitzer fell victim to a 'swatting' prank after Montgomery County police got an urgent message saying that someone had been shot at Blitzer's Bethesda home.

Officers set up a perimeter and started advancing on the house before a dispatch supervisor confirmed the message was a fraud. Blitzer was not in Bethesda at the time.