Tennessee man, 60, targeted for his Twitter handle worth thousands of dollars, died after 'swatting' call scheme set up by two minors

A 60-year-old man who was targeted for his coveted Twitter handle died after a prank call sent armed police officers to his home.   

In April 2020, Mark Herring, 60, was the victim of 'swatting,' the act of prank calling the police on an innocent person with false claims that they have committed a serious crime. 

Herring was targeted by Shane Sonderman over his Twitter handle @Tennessee,  where both Herring and Sonderman were from. Herring claimed he joined Twitter at its inception. 

Sonderman, who is due back in court July 21, and another associate, who were both minors at the time, concocted an elaborate prank to extort Herring in a bid to obtain the @Tennessee handle. 

Mark Herring, 60, was the victim of 'swatting,' the act of prank calling the police on an innocent person with false claims that they have committed a serious crime

60-year-old Herring (pictured with his grandchildren) would often brag to his family about the multiple offers made to him for his online handle

Herring was targeted by Shane Sonderman over his Twitter handle @Tennessee, which Herring claimed when he joined the social media site

His daughter Corrina Fitch told myhighplains.com that Herring originally picked the handle @Tennessee because he loves the Volunteers, the University of Tennessee football team.

Herring was well aware he had a special internet property and would often brag about the many offers he would get for it to his kids.  

'He would just in passing say, I got another offer on my Twitter handle today,' Fitch said. 

But Herring was not willing to sell the handle, leading to the strange set of events that ended in his death. 

In April 2020, his daughter received a pizza delivery intended for her father at her home. Her sister Katie Hooge and their mother, Fran Herring, who live across town from her, each received a pizza - also meant for Mark Herring - at their homes. 

Fitch called her father and did not get a response. She even sent him a Facebook message trying to figure out what was going on. Then her sister messaged her.    

'My sister texted, ''What's this about?'' And I just said, ''I just got pizza for Daddy at the house'' and she said, ''we just got pizza for Daddy at our house.'''  

Fitch thought it was a prank, but Mark's son-in-law Greg Hooge had a gut feeling something was wrong and reached out to the 60-year-old's live-in girlfriend who confirmed things were not alright.  

'I'm in the back of a cop car. I got to go.' she told him.  

His daughter Corrina Fitch said that Herring originally picked the handle @Tennessee due to his love of the Vols, the University of Tennessee football team

Police surrounded Mark Herring's Tennessee home after the prank call from two minors  

Earlier that day, an anonymous caller had reached out to Mark Herring and demanded he hand over his Twitter handle worth thousands of dollars. When he refused, his home was swatted. 

'His neighbor called and said there's police everywhere and they think a man has killed a woman and he's on your property. You need to take cover,' Hooge told myhighplains.com

'He went out of the house with a gun because he heard someone was on his property and he sees all these cops around him,' his daughter Finch said. 'They ask if he's Mark Herring and said ''put your hands up''. He tosses the gun away to show he's not a threat then (puts his) hands up.'  

Within minutes the 60-year-old died from a heart attack.  

'I believe he was scared to death, and that is what caused his heart attack,' Fran said.   

The family, who went to a local hospital to identify his body, was told by medical staff about the prank phone call.  

The family would later learn about Sonderman, who collected the entire family's personal information - then sent the pizzas to prove it - as an intimidation tactic to get the handle.

'He was from Tennessee,' Fitch said. 'He's the one that collected all of our information…my address, my sister, my mom's, my other sister's. He put it on a channel on Discord, which is a gaming chat forum.' 

A minor, who lives in the United Kingdom, was also in on the scheme and made the actual call to police.  

The British accomplice will not be extradited from the United Kingdom because he's a minor, but Sonderman, who was a minor at the time of the incident but is now an adult, is behind bars awaiting trial.  

A federal grand jury indictment claims Sonderman had six victims across the country, but Herring was the only one who died.

He faces five years in prison on a possible conspiracy charge and a $250,000 fine. 

Herring's family, who called what the two teens did at the time 'legit extortion', said the scheme was not worth Herring's life

'The handles sell for $3K-$4K, 'pennies compared to a life,' his daughter said.  

She added that what happened was not a joke and that there are serious, even fatal consequences to swatting. 

The family is advocating for tougher penalties against people guilty of swatting. 

'You've not just changed that person's life, you've done a ripple effect. And, they need to pay for that,' Finch said.  

His family also warned parents to be more aware of what their children do online. 

'Watch your kids on the internet, because they know more than you think they know,' his daughter added.