Rust Player Paralyzed in Swatting Incident Sues Police for $176 Million

Axeel Melendez, a 23-year-old Rust player from Tucson, Arizona, is suing local police for $176 million after a swatting incident in April left him paralyzed from the waist down. Officers responding to a false active-shooter report smashed through his bedroom window and shot him in the leg and spine — despite Melendez having warned the same department two days earlier that he was being targeted by a swatter.

The chain of events started when another Rust player hacked Melendez's computer, obtained personal information, and demanded money to keep it private. When Melendez refused to pay, the hacker threatened to swat him. Melendez called 911 to report the threats and explicitly warned dispatchers that his address might receive a fake emergency call — even quoting the threats directly, including that the caller would report a bomb or contact ICE to have his family deported. A 911 responder told him a hoax caller "can't just call the SWAT on you" and that "nothing is going to happen." An officer also visited his home to reassure him that deputies had been briefed about potential fake calls to his address. Two days later, police responded to a report that Melendez's father had shot his sister, stormed the house with guns drawn, and smashed his bedroom window with a shovel. Melendez, who was wearing noise-cancelling headphones while gaming, only realized someone was entering when the window broke. He grabbed the family's legally-owned shotgun and ran to wake his mother — officers saw the barrel pointing in their direction from behind a door and opened fire. Released police video confirms the sequence of events.

Swatting has become an increasingly serious problem tied to online gaming culture. Streamers and competitive players are frequent targets, with false emergency calls weaponized as harassment. Grand Theft Auto 5 actor Ned Luke has been swatted multiple times and only recently saw one perpetrator sentenced to jail. The practice carries life-altering — and in Melendez's case, life-destroying — consequences for victims, while the legal accountability for responding officers remains a contested area in U.S. law.

Melendez, who had dreams of working in automotive engineering and eventually on an F1 team, now faces permanent paralysis and is seeking damages for medical expenses and lost wages. Local police have declined to comment on the lawsuit. The case is likely to draw significant attention to both the dangers of swatting and the question of police liability when officers act on false reports despite prior warnings.