Marjorie Taylor Greene's home targeted in second swatting call, police say
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Georgia home was the target of a second swatting call early Thursday morning, authorities said. Swatting is designed to unnecessarily lure a large, armed police presence to a home.
The Rome Police Department said in an incident report that at around 2:53 a.m., police received a 911 call "about a male possibly shooting his family members and himself at the home of Marjorie Greene."
The call came in as if it had been made from a suicide crisis center, but it actually came from an internet chat, police said. The suicide chat line that was used by the suspect could not be tracked because the suspect used a virtual private network (VPN).
According to police, the person who made the call said that they "came out as trans-gender and claimed they shot the family." The person added that "if anyone tried to stop me from shooting myself, I will shoot them."
The person also said "they would be waiting" for police.
Officers made the decision to go to Greene's home and alert her, police said.
The swatting call was the second in two days on Greene's home. The congresswoman also confirmed the incident in a tweet Thursday, writing that she had been, "Swatted again last night."
Swatted again last night.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) August 25, 2022
On Wednesday morning, police said they received a call from a VA crisis line about a man who had been "shot 5 times in a bathtub." The crisis line said a female was still in the home and "possibly had some children inside with her," police said.
Officers responded to Greene's home, and later the department received a phone call from a suspect claiming responsibility for the incident with a computer-generated voice, according to a police report.
Rome Police Chief Denise Downer-McKinney said Thursday the department was investigating the swatting calls with the assistance of U.S. Capitol Police.
"The Rome Police Department Criminal Investigation Division is working in conjunction with the Capitol Police on this investigation," Downer-McKinney said in a statement. "This is an active investigation and no further information can be released at this time."