A person falsely called in a fire at the White House in apparent 'swatting' incident
A person called 911 falsely claiming that there was a fire at the White House and that someone was trapped inside in an apparent swatting incident.
WASHINGTON — A person called 911 Monday morning falsely claiming that there was a fire at the White House and that someone was trapped inside.
Multiple units from Washington's Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department responded at just after 7 a.m. ET, and officials determined that it was a false alarm.
While no law enforcement team was dispatched, “it’s in the same spirit” of "swatting" incidents that have increasingly targeted public officials in recent weeks, said Noah Gray, the communications director for city fire and EMS.
In a so-called swatting incident, someone makes a false report of a crime in progress to draw police to a certain location.
It's unclear who made the call or where it came from. A Secret Service spokesperson said any fire at the White House would have been detected immediately — and there clearly wasn’t one.
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