Washington state local police said an executive for video game maker Bungie was the victim Thursday of a hoax by a caller who claimed he had an assault rifle and was holding the family hostage.

"He wanted $20,000 to release the family," Nathan Elledge, chief of the Sammamish Police Department, told local media.

The 4am call appeared as if it came from within the executive's suburban residence, police said. They dispatched a helicopter overhead. Police surrounded the residence of the executive of the Bellevue-based game maker whose identity was not released. A SWAT team was on the ready, police said.

About an hour into the incident, police said the executive finally came out of the suburban house in his bathrobe—the victim of a swatting hoax.

Scary stuff. This is going to get somebody killed one of these days.