Anderson Cooper has been the latest victim of “swatting”–an illegal prank in which someone makes a false 911 call and sends police to a random home–and investigators don’t have any leads.
The incident happened last month at Cooper’s Hamptons home, making it the first time the prank has been pulled outside of L.A. Last year, several celebrities were targeted, including the Kardashians, Chris Brown, and Ryan Seacrest. Luckily, the victims are rarely home when cops descend upon their property, but many agree that it’s just not funny anymore (if it ever was).
Because of the serious nature of the 911 calls, police are forced to use precious resources to respond, which means those officers are off the streets for nothing.
“When we do get these calls, we always take them very seriously,” Sergeant Moreno of the Beverly Hills police said. “We never assume that it’s another one of these swatting calls. We respond with every available resource that we have, including the fire department and paramedics on standby.”
Earlier this year, a 12-year old boy admitted to swatting Ashton Kutcher’s house; he’s now awaiting sentencing. Police say they don’t have a suspect in this case yet, however.