Comedian Russell Brand's Hollywood home is reportedly the latest target of celebrity "swatting," in which false 911 calls are made reporting incidents at celebrities' homes. Los Angeles police went to Brand's home at 3:35 p.m. on Monday, April 8, in response to a call about an armed man being at his residence, but determined it was a "fraudulent call." The officer who responded said she didn't know if Brand was home at the time.
On April 4, Rihanna's Pacific Palisades residence was reportedly implicated in another celebrity "swatting" incident. According to the Los Angeles Times, a caller told law enforcement officials that someone had been shot inside her home. Officials quickly figured out that the call was another hoax.
Police visited Chris Brown's Hollywood Hills home on Monday after a call about an alleged domestic violence incident. Brown wasn't home, according to KTLA.
The Kardashian household was targeted on January 18. "Just got a call from my mom telling me about this prank call that someone was shot in their home & 15 swat team & 3 helicopters showed up!" Kim Kardashian tweeted. "These prank calls are NOT funny! People can get arrested for this! I hope they find out who is behind this. Its dangerous & not a joke!"
On January 17, police visited Tom Cruise's home after receiving a call that an armed robbery was in progress, according to a Beverly Hills Police Department press release. Like Brown, Cruise was not home when the police arrived.
The Los Angeles Times reported in December that Charlie Sheen's home was among the celebrity residences "swatted" in recent months.
In October, Justin Bieber reportedly fell victim to a celebrity "swatting" prank. After searching his home, police determined that the call was a hoax.
Days earlier, police were notified of an alleged home invasion robbery at Ashton Kutcher's house via a teletext message rather than a 911 call, according to TMZ. Kutcher later tweeted, "Safe an sound at two and a half men."
TMZ reported that Miley Cyrus' house was swarmed in August after police received a call about a possible home invasion. Of course, it turned out to be another false alarm.
- Seacrest joins a growing list of celebs "swatted" in recent months
- Russell Brand, Rihanna, Tom Cruise are recent "swatting" targets
- "Swatting" is a hoax 911 call that sends police rushing to the scene
- Los Angeles police are training to identify the prank calls
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Ryan Seacrest became the latest celebrity targeted by a "swatter" when a hoax 911 call reported armed men were shooting their way into the "American Idol" host's home Wednesday.
When police arrived at Seacrest's Beverly Hills home at about 2:40 p.m., they found Seacrest there, but no group of armed men, a Beverly Hills police spokesman said.
After speaking with Seacrest and his security team, the officers left.
Seacrest joins a growing list of celebs "swatted" in recent months, including Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Chris Brown, the Kardashians, Tom Cruise, Ashton Kutcher and Justin Bieber.
Russell Brand's Hollywood Hills home was a target Monday afternoon when a 911 caller told a Los Angeles Police Department emergency dispatcher that a man with a gun was in the house.
These prank calls earned the nickname "swatting" because law enforcement agencies sometimes would send SWAT teams to respond to the false emergencies. In most cases, though, SWAT units are not involved. Still, officers rush to the scene with guns drawn.
"It's a very high-risk response," Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore told CNN Tuesday. "The problem with crying wolf is that sometimes it's not false, so we always have to respond accordingly but cautiously."
Law enforcement agencies are "making advances each day" in their ability to track the calls to their origin, Whitmore said. Along with new technology, investigators have analyzed the calls to learn how to identify them. "We're getting better at knowing what is and what isn't a hoax," he said.
When Rihanna's Hollywood Hills home was swatted last week, the dispatcher suspected it was a hoax, so just one police patrol car was initially sent, LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said.
"We figured it was a swatting," Smith said "We really low-keyed it compared to how we've been."
LAPD officers are being trained on "what to be aware of and the possibility these are swatting calls," Smith said. "We're training dispatchers to be able to recognize certain distinct characteristic of these calls and maybe change the way we dispatch them so they don't draw as high a profile response."
CNN's Jack Hannah contributed to this report.
