Pranks can a real hoot, sometimes. Just goofin' on your friends, clownin' around, havin' fun. If there's any chance your innocent joke might end with your buddy facedown on the floor with an assault rifle pointed at his back, though, you might want to reconsider.

"Swatting" is a cool, reasonable prank that involves calling the cops and reporting a fake crime that might cause a SWAT team to respond. Jordan Mathewson, a Colorado-based gamer who uses the online handle Kootra, was swatted while playing Counter-Strike yesterday, and the entire terrifying ordeal was broadcast in a Twitch livestream and preserved in the six-minute video above.

The action begins about 40 seconds in, as several heavily armed cops burst into Mathewson's office, ordering him to freeze and put his hands behind his back. According to Littleton, Co., police, a caller "claimed to have shot two co-workers, held others hostage, and threatened to shoot them," and "stated that if the officers entered he would shoot them as well," so the cops' violent urgency in the video is understandable. No one was hurt, fortunately, but several area schools were placed on lockdown. Mathewson was eventually released without charge.

A garbage person who goes by @ScrewPain on Twitter appears to be taking credit. In a screencapped DM conversation with ABC reporter Eric Kahnert, ScrewPain said he called the fake active shooter situation in simply because he "could," and that he didn't feel particularly bad about it. LMFAO!

Police vowed to prosecute in a statement issued yesterday:

There were no victims or any evidence that a shooting had taken place. If the investigation determines that today's incident was a hoax, those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.