Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer.
Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on more than one occasion.
He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times.
An 81-year-old streamer, playing through Minecraft until she "beats" it, has been swatted, with 20 police cars, five SWAT cars full of multiple SWAT officers, and drones arriving at her house.
GrammaCrackers, who has over 600,000 YouTube followers, is using her viral streams to raise money for her grandson's cancer treatment. She was asleep, while her stream of Minecraft was still live, when officers were seen entering her house with torches and rifles.
81-Year-Old Streamer GrammaCrackers Swatted As She Raised Money For Grandson's Cancer Treatment
Credit: GrammaCrackers YouTube.
"I was asleep, I did not want to get up, and these policemen came in the door," the 81-year-old said in a follow-up video. "They locked me out. I didn't know what was going on, but it was kinda fun. My kid and my grandkid were hugging me; I don't get that kind of attention normally. Then I got to ride in a police car. I've never ridden in a police car before. Then it was all over, so I thought 'Well, I've gotta go to bed', so I took an ibuprofen and went to bed."
The streamer, who has also streamed Fortnite, Rocket League, and Roblox, seemed upbeat about the whole situation, saying the police officers were "so nice to me, I loved them, shout out to them, they were wonderful." She added that the only thought going through her head as she was taken outside was, "I'm walking outside with bare feet, and it's not hurting."
Swatting a streamer is completely illegal in the US and is often prosecuted as a felony. This is at both the state and federal levels. The most famous case came in 2018, when 25-year-old Tyler Barriss tried to swat a streamer, but instead sent the police to the wrong address. It ended with a father-of-two being shot dead by officers. Barriss was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
