Police rushed to a home where a toddler was heard crying as a man repeatedly screamed, “Why don’t you die?” – only to find the pair trying to kill a spider.
Officers in Australia attended the address in Perth after a concerned passer-by called emergency services.
On their arrival, the man at home explained he had a serious fear of spiders and apologised for the inconvenience caused.
The Wanneroo Police Twitter account reported the situation by posting a screenshot of its incident log on Wednesday morning.
“Caller walked past the AA and heard a male screaming out ‘Why don’t you die’ – repeatedly,” it read. “The toddler inside was screaming … Caller doesn’t know them, but has seen them a few times when walking”.
Twenty minutes later, officers now on the scene provided an update.
“Police spoke with all parties who advised that husband had only been trying to kill a spider (has serious fear of spiders). Apologised for inconvenience to police.
“No injuries sighted (except to spider). No further police involvement required.”
Although the tweet has since been deleted, a spokesperson for Western Australia Police Forcesaid it had only been removed because it was against protocol to include screenshots of police communications.
“There’s nothing actually wrong with the contents of it,” they told The Guardian. “There were just some typos in it, things like that.”
It is not the first time a spider has resulted in police in Australia needlessly rushing to a suspected crime scene.
In 2015, officers in Sydney attended a home where reports of loud banging had worried neighbours. They found a man throwing his furniture at an arachnid.
