‘It Felt Surreal, Like I Was in a Movie,’ Writer Says
“More than half a dozen police officers showed up at the home of Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. in Maryland early Sunday after a hoax call to 911 reporting that someone had been murdered inside the home,” Carli Teproff reported Sunday for the Miami Herald.
“Pitts, a Pulitzer Prize winning writer and award-winning author whose columns appear in about 250 newspapers nationwide, said he was cuffed, questioned and eventually released after officers realized it was a hoax.
“ ‘It was an interesting way to start the morning,’ Pitts said Sunday afternoon. ‘It felt surreal, like I was in a movie.’
“Pitts was fast asleep in bed with his wife when his cell phone rang just before 5 a.m. He said the phone is on ‘do not disturb,’ but if someone calls twice in a row it will ring. The caller ID said City of Bowie, Maryland.
“He answered and was told that police had received a call that someone was killing his wife inside. He was told to stay on the phone and go outside. He complied.
“ ‘I knew that if I remained calm, it would be fine because there was nothing to hide,’ Pitts said.
“Someone on a loudspeaker told him to put the phone on the ground, put his hands up and walk toward a spotlight shining at him. He was then told to drop to his knees and put his hands behind his back.
“He was taken behind a police car where he was questioned. His wife, adult daughter, her wife and his 3-year-old granddaughter were all inside at the time. They were told to go outside, but were not cuffed, Pitts said. Meanwhile other officers searched his home.
“These types of hoaxes are usually considered ‘swatting’ incidents — someone makes a false report in order to provoke a SWAT team response. Swatting, which has become all-[too]-familiar nationwide, is often used to target celebrities and other prominent people. . . .”
