The Bel Air home of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay was the target of a “swatting” call for the second time this year, police said.
Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department raced to Ramsay’s mansion on Monday, after a 911 caller claimed that he used a revolver to shoot his brother — whom he described as a famous cook — and his nephew, TMZ reported. The caller also claimed to be doing heroin and refused to leave the residence.
When they arrived on the scene around 8 p.m., officers found no evidence of a shooting or that any violence had occurred.
According to TMZ, Ramsay was not home at the time. Sources said he was actually out of the country when the incident occurred, which authorities have since classified as a case of “swatting.”
Swatting is a type of cyber harassment involving a 911 call or emergency report regarding an active shooter situation or some sort of immediate danger that doesn’t actually exist. The goal is to illicit a large police response that often includes the arrival of a SWAT team.
While swatting is often described as a prank, the consequences can be deadly.
In 2021, Tennessee man Mark Herring died of a heart attack after heavily armored law enforcement officers descended on his home. They were under the impression Herring killed a woman on the property. He was targeted in the swatting attack over his refusal to sell his Twitter handle, @Tennessee, police said.
