A Nebraska political leader is the latest victim of a rising form of criminal harassment: swatting.
Announced via social media, Lincoln police were sent to the home of Former State Senator Adam Morfeld on Christmas morning, on a false homicide and mental health emergency report. Morfeld served as a State Senator from 2014-2022 and is current executive director of the civic engagement non-profit Civic Nebraska.
Adam Morfeld
“Merry Christmas to all, except for the jerk who called 911 pretending to be me claiming I was going to kill myself,” Morfeld said, sharing a porch security video screenshot of police surveying his home.
KLIN News reached out to Morfeld to learn more about the situation. He said he was not home at the time of the police response, but disembarking a plane in Chicago.
“I received a call from my neighbor stating there were four police cars outside my home. He went to talk to them and the police said they received a 911 call stating I had killed my wife and was about to kill myself,” said Morfeld, “I appreciate the Lincoln Police Department handling the situation thoughtfully and professionally. It unfortunately took up police resources unnecessarily and given a different context could have resulted in putting the police and others in danger.”
Lincoln Police confirmed Wednesday, the hoax call from Morfeld’s house was apart of a string of holiday weekend swatting calls. Sergeant Chris Vollmer explained, “These are calls placed from an internet-based number, that include claims of either a victim hiding within a residence, describing an unfolding emergency, or a perpetrator of an act of violence, professing what they have done in each incident.”
Vollmer said the responding officers were able to quickly discern the call to the former senators home was likely not legitimate. “Follow up efforts to determine the origin of the calls remain ongoing,” said Vollmer, “With the phones being internet-based, it requires a lot of legal process to various companies. Some respond quicker than others. It takes sometime.”