Jennifer Aniston's Home 'Swatted' After Prankster Calls 911 For 'Near Suicide' Welfare Check
Jennifer Aniston is the latest celebrity to fall victim to "swatting."
"Swatting" is a prank that deceives emergency services into sending police to another person's address, and is on the rise in Hollywood.
According to 'TMZ,' the 'Friends' alum was awaken early Friday morning after a prank caller said they were worried about a friend in distress. Aniston was not mentioned by name, but the caller said his friend was "not doing well" and asked for them to conduct a welfare check.
Cops did just that, but was confronted by the actress' security, who was not expecting them.
The 55-year-old, per the outlet, told authorities everything was okay before they retreated. Moving forward, police said they will check with security if another call is made to the address.
Aniston isn't the only star who has been "swatted."
Ashton Kutcher, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, and Kim Kardashian have all been swatted.
A Kansas man, Andrew Finch, was inadvertently killed by police in his own home in December 2017 after cops were called to his house during the prank, 'CNN' reported.
Two years later, in 2019, the man who made the hoax call to police, Tyler Ray Barriss, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to making a false report resulting in death and numerous other counts related to prank calls.
Stephen McAllister, the US Attorney for the District of Kansas, stated how "swatting is no prank."
He added: "Sending police and emergency responders rushing to anyone's home based on utterly false information as some kind of joke shows an incredible disregard for the safety of other people."
