QUEEN CREEK, Ariz — An 81-year-old Valley grandmother who has gone viral for playing video games to help pay for her grandson’s medical bills said her home was swatted Monday night after someone falsely reported to police that she had been shot and killed.
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Known online as “GrammaCrackers,” Sue Jacquot has built a following of more than 600,000 YouTube subscribers by creating Minecraft videos alongside her grandsons, Jack and Austin Self.
The family told 12News they recently began 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.
The family said they had been streaming continuously for nearly 15 days when they received a call from police around 11 p.m. Monday.
“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 Self said the report was false and described it as a swatting call, where someone falsely reports a violent emergency to 911 in an attempt to prompt a large police response.
The family said more than a dozen Queen Creek police officers in full tactical gear, including riot shields and rifles, surrounded their home and instructed everyone inside to come outside with their hands up.
Ring camera footage captured officers outside the home. The livestream also showed officers entering Jacquot’s room and waking her up while she slept.
“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 apologizing. 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.
When asked about her reaction to the situation, Jacquot laughed.
“I had just thought, what had my grandkids had done?” she said.
The family said officers remained at the home for about three hours before determining the report was false.
“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.
The family questioned why someone would target Jacquot.
“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,” Austin Self said.
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Despite the scare, Jacquot said she had no plans to stop streaming.
“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 said viewers flooded the stream with supportive comments following the incident.
“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.
The experience, they said, ultimately strengthened their family and online community.
“I can’t thank people enough for how kind they are to her,” a family member said.
The Queen Creek Police Department confirmed officers responded to the swatting call and said additional details about the ongoing investigation will be released in the coming days.
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What is the Valley?
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
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Mesa
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Chandler
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Scottsdale
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Tempe
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Glendale
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Surprise
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Peoria
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Gilbert
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El Mirage
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Avondale
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Litchfield Park
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Goodyear
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Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
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