Over the past several months, a whole slew of celebrities have been the victim of a dangerous practice called “swatting”, which involves someone making a fake emergency call just to get police to show up at the home of a famous person. So far, many of those targeted haven’t been home when SWAT teams swarmed in–like Tom Cruise and Miley Cyrus–but some, like Kris Jenner, have been.
Now, the latest celebrity to fall victim to this prankster–assuming it’s the same person–is performer Chris Brown. No word yet on whether he was home at the time, but officials say they received a call about a mother and father fighting and the father grabbing a gun. The caller hung up without giving any more details.
Most of the calls seem to involve a shooting, and when police show up they are confronted with very confused homeowners. Kris Jenner was shocked to open her door and find a group of cops standing there, expecting to find a gunman.
The L.A.P.D. says they are serious about catching the culprit and are trying to make the practice of swatting a federal offense.
“What we want to do is have the legislature turn up the heat on these people. This is a serious, serious crime,” L.A. County Sheriff Steve Whitmore said.