Mary De Stefano was cooking on what she referred to as "a normal Sunday" when she was startled by a loud banging on her front door.
And it was no normal knock.
When she turned the corner to open the door, she was greeted by several police officers with guns drawn.
"I received a phone call from an unknown caller and didn't answer and then I got the same number again, which was very odd," De Stefano said.
"I heard a very loud banging on the front door, loud enough to almost kick the door in. I could see all the police lights, they were very aggressive. I went out and I was surrounded by a S.W.A.T. team with all of their rifles and guns pointed at me. I almost started laughing because I thought it was a joke."
After a series of questions, the Cambridge mom was asked if she was aware of anyone named Max, a name her son had been known to use online.
It was at that point the story began to come together.
Officers then informed her they had received a call from someone of that name saying they had tied up their girlfriend in the basement and shot her.
"I said that's impossible, my son has been home all day and he doesn't have a girlfriend," she said.
"I knew he wouldn't be stupid enough to say something like that. He thought I had lost my mind and he said no way."
De Stefano's son is an active video game player and streamer. As it turned out, the family had been targeted by a swatting call, likely after her son's account was hacked. He even received a message saying it was going to happen before it did.
Swatting is a term that refers to prank phone calls to police that claim an emergency is happening at a certain address. When officers arrive to what they believe is a serious call, the homeowners are caught by surprise.
The Waterloo Regional Police Service has seen an increase in the number of these calls in recent years, including 26 in 2024.
The service says it has spent hundreds of personnel hours responding to and investigating the incidents.
A Kitchener teen is currently facing 29 charges after serious threats were made against a school, business and people. Those charges are unrelated to the De Stefano situation.
"They are of great concern to us," WRPS Chief of Police Mark Crowell said at a roundtable discussion earlier this week with members of the media.
"The amount of time and effort we're putting into these investigations from the outset and then to follow through to resolve the issues is significant. We're signalling this as a serious threat to public safety moving forward. Across Ontario, Canada and North America, swatting incidents continue to be on the rise and the advance of artificial intelligence adds additional threats and concerns."
Crowell said the service will continue to invest technology and investigative capacity if the trends continue. The service is also reminding people that swatting is a criminal offence, puts lives at risk and diverts calls away from real emergencies.
But that's not where the story ends for De Stefano and her family.
Last Thursday while out running an errand, she received a call from a neighbour saying her east end house was surrounded by police again.
This time, police were tipped off about the occupant of the house stabbing his niece and nephew.
"My son was home early from work so I called him and I could already hear the police in the house," she said.
"He had been in the shower and they were banging on the door and just before he got to the bottom step they had broken through the door."
De Stefano was told her door would be fixed, which she ended up having to pay out of pocket for, she said.
Now, she wants to alert people of these types of situations in hopes of raising awareness.
When she went to the police station the following day, she asked what her family could do to protect themselves, only to be told there isn't much that can be done.
She was told it was the same person behind both calls, traced to Wisconsin. However, with VPNs able to hide IP addresses it could've come from anywhere.
She was also concerned that she wasn't flagged in the system after the first time.
"We've changed our emails and passwords," De Stefano said of the preventative measures they've taken.
"I feel like we were treated very poorly. Not a follow up of any sort. No resources to help and this was the second time. I feel as though the Cambridge police really dropped the ball on this."
When reached for comment, the WRPS said both swatting incidents are currently under investigation.