Cops rushed to the home of Austin Metcalf after trolls reported a fake shooting at his house on Thursday, police said.
The sick prank came hours after Austin Metcalf’s father crashed a press conference by the family of his son’s alleged killer Karmelo Anthony, 17, accused of stabbing Metcalf, also 17, an athletic event in Frisco, Texas.
Police in Frisco, Texas, described the incident as “swatting,” a prank in which someone reports a fake crime to get cops to swarm the victims’ home, according to WFAA.
The prank is the latest skirmish in a racially-charged culture war that has enmeshed the Dallas suburb since the April 2 killing.
Anthony, who is black and from a rival school, allegedly knifed Metcalf, a white football star, during a fight over a seat in the bleachers at a track meet — leaving him to die in his twin brother’s arms.
Witnesses said Mecalf tried to shove Anthony out of his school’s tent during a rain delay when Anthony pulled a blade from his backpack and stabbed him in the heart, according to a police report.
Anthony faces a first-degree murder murder charge, but he returned home under house-arrest this week when his family posted his $250,000 bond — after raising nearly twice that amount in an online fundraiser for his legal fees.
Anthony’s family insists he acted in self-defense.
His mother Kala Hayes said during the Thursday press conference that her family is “under attack.”
“Whatever you think that happened between Karmelo and the Metcalf boys, my three younger children, my husband and I didn’t do anything to deserve to be threatened, harassed and lied about,” she said through tears with her husband by her side.
The speech had been delayed when the victim’s dad Jeff Metcalf showed up out of the blue.
Although Jeff reportedly didn’t say anything, his appearance caused a stir and prompted Dallas police to escort him from the premises.
“That was disrespectful and just shows you all the character — he was not invited, he knows that it’s inappropriate to be near this family, but he did it,” the Next Generation Action Network president added once the press conference began.
