# @downinnadesert on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DcxAhTimhRO
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70021195-downinnadesert-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/e9e244054f.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-02T01:01:04.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Down In The Desert🌵 (@downinnadesert) — https://gondola.cc/downinnadesert

## Caption

He called 911 two days before it happened to warn them someone was threatening to send police to his home.

Axeel Melendez, 23, was playing video games at his Tucson home when a stranger allegedly hacked him and threatened to use his personal information to “swat” him by reporting a fake emergency at his address.

Melendez called 911 on April 8 and explained what was happening. According to the notice of claim, a Pima County deputy later came to the home, took his statement and told him there was nothing to worry about.

Two days later, around 5:40 a.m., someone allegedly called authorities pretending to be Melendez and reported that his father had shot his sister.

Deputies responded believing someone had been shot inside the home. Body-camera footage shows a deputy breaking a rear bedroom window. Melendez and his mother were inside and reportedly did not know who was entering. His attorneys say Melendez grabbed his family’s legally registered handgun and hid while trying to protect his mother.

Deputies then fired eight shots, according to the notice of claim, striking Melendez twice. He suffered a T4 spinal cord injury and was left paralyzed.

His attorneys say the most troubling part is that the deputy who responded to Melendez’s original warning wrote that Melendez would be contacted first if an emergency call came from the address so he could explain that he had been hacked. The deputy also reportedly notified his supervisor.

According to the claim, that precaution was not followed when the call came in two days later.

Melendez and his mother have since filed a $320 million notice of claim against Pima County and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. The sheriff’s department has said it does not comment on pending litigation.

#Tucson #Arizona #PimaCounty #Swatting #ArizonaNews

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 2,583
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 237

## Tags

swatting, arizonanews, tucson, arizona, pimacounty

---
Copyright (c) Gondola