A woman’s death this week in a car crash involving a police officer responding to a bomb threat at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Georgia home demonstrates the growing danger of crushing, police and experts said .
Swatting refers to when a false threat is made to attract police and first responders to a location.
The woman, identified by police as Tammie Pickelsimer, was killed after she crashed into a member of the bomb squad who was responding to the call, according to a Rome police statement.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks to members of the press at the U.S. Capitol, December 5, 2024, in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Police say the threat was emailed to them last week, but it was redirected to a spam folder. Police discovered the email on Monday which correctly listed the MP’s home address.
Greene was not home at the time, but the email message specifically targeted the congresswoman’s mailbox, Greene posted on X.
The email prompted 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 on his way to meet the bomb squad at their headquarters when he crashed into Pickelsimer, 66, the police said. Georgia State Patrol.
Picklesimer suffered serious injuries and later died at the hospital, according to GSP. The police officer was slightly injured and was later released from the hospital.
Police did not find a bomb at Greene’s home. In a statement, Rome police spoke of the dangers of crush incidents.
“The Rome Police Department continues to work closely with Congresswoman Greene’s staff to address growing concerns regarding crash incidents and has implemented protocols to ensure emergency responses are only initiated when truly necessary,” the police department said in a statement. “This particular situation did not require emergency intervention.”
The police department added: “The Rome Police Department extends its deepest condolences to the Pickelsimer family during this difficult time. The department holds the individual responsible for sending the threatening email fully responsible for triggering this tragic chain of events. Along with Congresswoman Greene, the Rome Police Department is working with federal authorities to ensure the perpetrator is apprehended and brought to justice.”
Rome police told ABC News the email contained an IP address linked to Russia.
Greene said she was “heartbroken” and expressed concern over violent political threats in a statement on X.
“These violent political threats have fatal consequences,” she said. “This is undue pressure on our law enforcement to 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 assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, swatting is a harassment tactic used to dispatch an “arm of government” to emergency services.
Bandler believes the rise in swatting comes from cybercrime that allows criminals to commit a crime against someone else without having to get close, he said.
“It’s a way for people to commit a crime and they think they won’t be caught doing it,” Bandler said. “And this seems to be a much more indirect way of doing it.”
Most people will never be run over, Bandler said. But he notes that it will be difficult to protect against this type of crime, just as it is to protect against all crimes, he said.
Bandler calls for all attempted swatting to be prosecuted as misdemeanors in every state and federally. Squashing becomes a federal crime when it crosses state lines.
He said crashes are extremely dangerous and disperse police efforts.
“Not only are you wasting law enforcement time, but you’re triggering that emergency response and that’s still going to be dangerous,” Bandler said.
Greene said his office is cooperating with local law enforcement and the FBI in their investigation into the threat.
