Police officers and a sheriff's helicopter descended upon a Bungie executive's home early Thursday morning in Sammamish, Washington, after a faked 911 call led them to believe there were hostages inside and explosives in the yard, KOMO News reports.

"The caller said he had an assault rifle and he had placed explosives in the yard and he was holding a family hostage," Nathan Elledge, chief of police at the Sammamish Police Department, told the television station. "He wanted $20,000 to release the family."

The 4 a.m. response lasted about 45 minutes before law enforcement was able to determine that the call was fake. The home belongs to an unnamed "high-up executive" at Bungie, developer of Destiny. Detectives later figured out that the original call didn't come from the home but was instead made by a computer.

A sheriff's deputy said that while they were able to determine no one was in the house holding the family hostage, they haven't yet figured out where the call came from. If caught, the caller faces up to a year in jail and $5,000 fine.

"This is not a game. This is a very serious response that could've had serious consequences and we're just fortunate that didn't happen this time," Elledge told the television station. "It puts officers' lives at risk when you respond to something this serious. It puts the citizens' lives at risk."

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