A Perth man has come forward as the person behind a police call out over a spider.
Multiple police units arrived at a property on Wednesday morning after reports witnesses heard a child's piercing screams and a man repeatedly yelling, "Why don't you die!?"
Neighbours called the police believing something terrible was happening, but it turns out he was just trying to kill a spider.
"The toddler inside was screaming but the caller didn't hear the female who lives there saying anything," the police report stated adding that no injuries were discovered, except for the ones sustained by the spider during its dramatic demise.
Rhys Howard admits he's not used to being in charge of spider-killing and things may have gotten overly dramatic.
"I may have overreacted, I'm a pretty dramatic person at the best of times," he told 7 News.
His wife Kara Howard is usually the household's chief spider-killer, but she was in the shower. She heard most of the commotion from the other side of the bathroom door, as did the passer-by who called police.
Officers did see the funny side of the whole incident though.
"We're thinking about starting the SSD - the Special Spider Division," one officer joked.
Newshub.
