Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s home in Fairfax County, Virginia, was the target of a “swatting” call on Wednesday evening, which police have determined was a hoax.
Officers said a call came into their non-emergency line a few minutes after 9:00 p.m. at her home and they coordinated with security personnel assigned to the residence, Fox 5 reported Thursday.
However, it remained unclear if a suspect in the incident was identified or taken into custody.
Police audio recorded an officer telling a dispatcher “Just made contact with security that’s on scene. They should be outside in an Explorer. He said he hasn’t heard anything.”
The call was from someone claiming there were sounds of gunshots, according to Fox News.
“The incident comes amid years of heightened threats against Supreme Court justices, including protests outside conservative justices’ homes after the leaked Dobbs draft opinion in 2022 showing the court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade,” the outlet reported, “and the arrest near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home of a California man who was later charged with attempted murder.”
After several swatting incidents targeting conservative commentators and journalists in March 2025, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) called those instances “domestic terrorism and attempted murder,” according to Breitbart News:
The term “swatting” refers to an anonymous attacker targeting someone by making a false call to emergency services — using anonymous tools like Google Voice or VPNs to make it appear the call is coming from a certain location — and telling authorities a murder or hostage event is transpiring at a particular address. Swatting is designed to prompt SWAT teams to arrive at the targeted home and descend on unsuspecting victims, which in the past has led to deadly encounters and murder charges for the offender.
Barrett returned to the bench on Thursday and did not mention the incident, according to the Fox article.
In June, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel said his home was swatted.
