SOUTH FULTON, Ga. — A City of South Fulton woman joins the likes of Senator Raphael Warnock and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green in becoming one of the latest victims of "swatting." That’s when someone places a fake 911 leading to officer or even a SWAT team showing up at your house.
“I told the officer I think someone is playing games’ said City of South Fulton resident Pamela Harris.
Thursday night Harris went to bed like every other night, but around 1 a.m. heard an unexpected knock at the door and when she answered, it was three South Fulton Police officers, responding to investigate what they thought was a 911 emergency.
Harris became one of the latest victims of swatting, which has emerged as a rapidly spreading concern for targeted lawmakers and political figures.
“They were responding to a to noise call," said Harris. She added Thursday's 1 a.m. visit by police was just one of several unexpected visits by police.
"There were five instances, three happened in the middle of the night, where officers showed up and told me that the calls were coming from Atlanta," Harris said.
The calls have led to a multi-agency investigation, with the FBI, GBI, and South Fulton Police looking into the mater.
“We’ve contacted the Google representative because it would appear that those numbers are being routed through Google numbers, so it’s important for us to try to track down this individual because certainly this is a piece of the E911 system and we want to make sure that we're sending a very clear message that our police officers -- while we expect them to respond, we want them to respond to actual emergencies,” said South Fulton Police Chief Keith Meadows.
But while an investigation is underway, Harris remains on edge, believing she’s being targeted because she is a former city council candidate and still speaks out on social media about issues impacting residents.
Harris said the calls will not deter her, however.
"If I'm not speaking truth, then why am I being swatted? You know, why is this happening to me... is this an attempt to quiet me?" she said. "It's not gonna work."
Currently several state lawmakers are considering a bill to increase penalties for people placing 911 calls that lead to swatting incidents.