A Sydney, Australia personal trainer was left in utter shock after around 15 armed police officers turned up to his gym while he was teaching a client.
Muay Thai fighter and boxing trainer, Jamie Alleyne, 34, who works for PTJ Gladesville in the Lower North Shore, Australia was wearing his Apple Watch when it activated Siri and accidentally called Emergency Services.
It was about 7:45 am on Tuesday when Jamie said a police officer entered the gym while he was training his first client for the day.
“I heard someone come in and I looked around and noticed it was a police officer. I said, ‘Hey there mate, can I help you?’” Jamie told news.com.au.
“He walked inside and said they received a call about gunshots.
“I was thinking ‘Oh God’ and I told him I hadn’t heard anything.”
Jamie said the officer then walked around and asked who else was in the gym, to which he responded two other trainers.
“And then next minute about 15 officers including undercovers showed up, with several ambulances parked out the front, and that’s when I started bricking myself.
“All of them came in and I was like, ‘What is going on?’ One of them asked who Jamie Avery-or something was and I said, ‘I am Jamie Alleyne.’
“He told me I was the one who made the call which was impossible because I didn’t even have my phone on me.”
After an officer told him to check his dialed numbers, to Jamie’s shock he saw one call was made to 112 – which is an alternate number for emergency services – as well as a voicemail from New South Wales, Australia Hospital saying they received his call and ambulance crews and officers have been dispatched.
The trainer said he was wearing his Apple Watch while holding pads for his client and the pressure of the button against his wrist must have activated Siri.
“I ended up taking off my watch because it was uncomfortable and also Siri kept popping up and during that time I was yelling out combos.”
Jamie was yelling out the combinations “1-1-2” – while also telling his client “good shot” – and that’s when he and the officers realized what had possibly happened.
“The button is on the side of the watch and if it is pressed down for long enough, Siri is activated and in that time I must have yelled out ‘1-1-2’, it called emergency and they heard the impact of the pads and me saying ‘good shot’ or ‘nice shot’.”
Jamie said the officers initially thought it was a suicide – and he said he was very impressed by their response time.
“They were out here so fast – their response time was amazing and I commend them for that – but thankfully it wasn’t anything serious.
“I was extremely apologetic and as a joke one of the officers said, ‘You have to fight one of us now,’ and I laughed and said, ‘It’s not going to be you, you big unit.’”
Following the incident, Jamie immediately called his boss Andrew Parnham and explained what had happened.
“He thought it was funny – serious but funny. He couldn’t believe it.”
Jamie has now deactivated Siri.