Someone tried 'swatting' the White House. It sort of worked.
- The White House was targeted on Monday morning in an apparent "swatting" incident.
- Someone called 911 to falsely report there was a fire there and that a person was trapped.
The White House on Monday morning was targeted in an apparent "swatting" incident — but the matter was quickly resolved.
Someone called 911 just after 7 a.m. to falsely report a fire at the White House and that a person was trapped inside the historic building, a spokesman for the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department told Business Insider on Tuesday.
Fire and emergency units responded to the call, and "it was quickly determined there was no emergency" and that the report was false, the spokesman said, adding that Secret Service personnel also assisted.
The call came in as President Joe Biden and his family were at Camp David in Maryland.
It was not clear who made the call. The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider on Tuesday.
A so-called "swatting" incident is a term that refers to a hoax typically involving a false report like a bomb threat, hostage situation, or other kind of serious crime with the intent of drawing a huge police response to a certain location.
The DC Fire and EMS spokesman Business Insider spoke to did not describe Monday's call as a "swatting" incident. Noah Gray, the chief communications officer for the agency, told NBC News that the ordeal was "in the same spirit" of other high-profile "swatting" incidents that have recently happened, even though no law enforcement was dispatched.
In recent weeks, several officials and lawmakers, including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, and the New York judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's Manhattan civil fraud trial, have been targeted in swatting incidents.
The FBI launched a national database in June to track swatting incidents amid an uptick in them.