Woman dies amid police response to swatting call at congresswoman's home

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Monday begged for an end to so-called swatting calls against politicians after one such call led to a woman’s death near her home in Rome, Ga. The federal government defines a swatting call as a 911 call falsely reporting a high-stakes emergency at a specific residence so police will turn up at the location in force. Sometimes the calls are motivated by a desire to prank an individual, while other times the callers have malicious intent, the government says.

What happened near Greene’s residence? A police officer responding to a fraudulent bomb threat at Greene’s home wound up in an automotive accident that killed a woman, the congresswoman said. The Rome Police Department confirmed in a social media statement that one of its officers was involved in an automobile accident while responding to a bomb threat. The officer was driving a personal vehicle to the scene when the accident occurred, police said.

Police should not have had to respond to the call at her place at all, Greene said. This call led to an innocent woman losing her life, the congresswoman said. The person who was behind the swatting call committed murder, she said. Greene added that she was sick to her stomach, but also angry, and hoped such an incident never takes place again.

Dig deeper: Read Leo Briceno’s report in The Stew about how Rep. Greene sought to wrest the speaker’s gavel from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., earlier this year.