Woman's death as officer responded to Marjorie Taylor Greene threat highlights growing swatting issue
The death of a woman this week in a car crash involving a police officer who was responding to a bomb threat against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Georgia home demonstrates the growing danger of swatting, police and experts said.
Swatting refers to when a false threat is made to draw police and first responders to a location.
The woman, identified by police as Tammie Pickelsimer, was killed after crashing into a bomb squad member who was responding to the call, according to a statement from the Rome Police Department.
According to police, the threat was sent by email to them last week, but it was re-routed to a junk folder. Police on Monday discovered the email which correctly listed the congresswoman's home address.
Greene was not home at the time, but the message from the email specifically targeted the congresswoman's mailbox, Greene posted on X.
The email spurred a response from police who then sent an officer to monitor the mailbox while waiting for the bomb squad.
Rome police sergeant and bomb squad member David Metroka was en route to join the bomb squad at their headquarters when he crashed into the 66-year-old Pickelsimer, Georgia State Patrol said.
Picklesimer suffered significant injuries and later died at the hospital, according to GSP. The officer had minor injuries and was later released from the hospital.
Police did not find a bomb at Greene's home. In a statement, the Rome Police Department addressed the dangers of swatting incidents.
"The Rome Police Department continues to work closely with Congresswoman Greene's staff to address the growing concern of swatting incidents and has implemented protocols to ensure that emergency responses are only triggered when truly necessary," the police department said in a statement. "This particular situation did not require an emergency response."
The police department added, "The Rome Police Department extends its heartfelt condolences to the Pickelsimer family during this difficult time. The department holds the individual responsible for sending the threatening email fully accountable for setting this tragic chain of events into motion. In collaboration with Congresswoman Greene's office, the Rome Police Department is working with federal authorities to ensure the perpetrator is apprehended and brought to justice."
The Rome Police Department told ABC News the email had an IP address linked to Russia.
Greene said she "felt heartsick," and expressed her concern over violent political threats in a statement on X.
"These violent political threats have fatal consequences," she said. "It’s an undue strain on our law enforcement who must treat them seriously. The officer was responding to protect my life. And now, a woman has lost her life because of this despicable act."
According to John Bandler, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, swatting is a harassment tactic used to dispatch an "arm of government" for emergency services.
Bandler believes the uptick in swatting stems from cyber crimes allowing criminals to commit a crime against someone else without having to get close to it, he said.
"It is a way people can do a crime and they think they won't get caught doing it," Bandler said. "And it seems much more an indirect way of doing it."
Most people are never going to be swatted, Bandler said. But he notes it will be hard to protect yourself from this sort of crime, just like it is to protect yourself from all crime, he said.
Bandler calls for all swatting attempts to be prosecuted as a felony in every state and on the federal level. Swatting becomes a felony on the federal level when it crosses state lines.
He said swatting is extremely dangerous and scatters police efforts.
"Not only are you wasting law enforcement's time, but you're triggering that emergency response and that is always going to be dangerous," Bandler said.
Greene said her office is cooperating with local law enforcement and the FBI as they investigate the threat.
