Justice Brett Kavanaugh, left, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, center, and retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy listen as US President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress. (REUTERS)
Audio has emerged showing how police officials reacted to an alarming call about gunshot noises supposedly heard at the home of a prominent Supreme Court justice, which later ended up being revealed as an attempt at "swatting."
On Thursday, Andrew Leyden, a freelance photographer based in Washington D.C., revealed in a post to X that conservative Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's home had been visited by local police after they received a call alleging that gunshots had been heard there. It was later determined that this was an attempt to get a SWAT or other emergency response team called to the home.
Leyden also shared an audio clip in which a police dispatcher and officer can be heard handling the call, redacted slightly to hide certain sensitive details.
"Police responded to a call for the sound of gunshots at the home of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett last night, but quickly realized it was a swatting call and cleared after meeting with her security detail," Leyden wrote in his post.
"Attention all units responding to the suspicious noise at [redacted]," the dispatcher can be heard saying. "There is an LOI [location of interest] for this address that has 24-hour security coverage for a high-priority resident of the county. Units responding to suspicious noise, be advised, we have not been able to get an answer on callback to the complainant's phone number. Unknown if it's going to be a swatting situation..."
Later, an officer responds after arriving at Barrett's home.
"Just made contact with security that's on scene," the officer said. "They should be outside in an Explorer. He said he hasn't heard anything. We're just going to meet up with him first, just to go over anything."
Barrett was appointed to the Supreme Court by Donald Trump in the waning days of his first term, following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In the years since, she has generated controversy after taking part in numerous conservative majority opinions, including ones that ended Roe v. Wade abortion laws and another that struck down affirmative action. She has also, however, run afoul of Trump's staunch MAGA followers over a handful of instances where she broke with the rest of her conservative colleagues.
In March of 2025, reports emerged that Barrett's sister, Amanda Coney Williams, had received a bomb threat, claiming that an explosive device had been left in her mailbox. A bomb squad later determined that there was, in fact, no bomb.
Police responded to a call for the sound of gunshots at the home of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett last night, but quickly realized it was a swatting call and cleared after meeting with her security detail. This is partial police audio, redacted pursuant to media… pic.twitter.com/fKKSTAVR6F
— Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) May 28, 2026