A 17-year-old has been charged in connection with multiple swatting incidents in Vaughan, Ont. over the last year.

An investigation began after police were told on Nov. 20, 2020 that a male had walked inside a Toronto school with a gun. Police said that when officers arrived at Tommy Douglas Secondary School, located near Yonge and Wellington streets, they determined the call was a hoax.

In a news release issued Thursday, police listed three other gun-related incidents that were reported to authorities. Each one was determined by investigators to be a hoax.

The first was on Nov. 28, 2020 when police were called to a residence on Via Borghese, near Major Mackenzie Drive and Via Campanile, after receiving a report that a neighbour had shot his cat and dog.

Less than a month later, on Dec. 16, police received a 911 call to another Via Borghese address. They say the caller reported hearing the sound of gunshots after seeing a male and a female arguing.

The final call was on Jan. 13, 2021. Police responded to the same Dec. 16 address after a person called and said he had just shot his mother. The caller, police added, said that if police responded he would shoot them.

On Thursday, police said that a suspect had been taken into custody in connection with all four incidents. A 17-year-old male from Vaughan is facing numerous charges, including four counts of public mischief and interference with the use of someone’s property.

The suspect cannot be identified under the Youth criminal Justice Act.

Swatting has been described by police as the act of tricking officers into dispatching emergency responders based on a false report.