BOSTON — A Massachusetts congresswoman says police swarmed her home after she was the victim of the kind of bogus emergency call that she’s trying to combat.
U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, a Democrat from Melrose, says she was home Sunday night with her husband and two children when police responded around 10 p.m. to what investigators described as a “computer-generated phone call” stating there was an active shooter at Clark’s home.
Melrose Police Chief Michael Lyle says police quickly determined the report was false.
In November, Clark introduced legislation aimed at combatting hoax emergency calls after a string of them in her home state.
The calls are often referred to as “swatting” because they may provoke a response by police SWAT teams. They’ve been used to harass journalists, domestic violence victims and others.
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