Anderson Cooper 'Swatted' By 911 Hoax, Latest Celebrity Target In Growing Trend

Anderson Cooper has become the latest celebrity victim of a prank called "swatting."

"Swatting" is a growing prank trend in which someone calls 911 to report a fake crime taking place at someone else's house, which then results in police and a SWAT team invading the home.

A storm of cops busted into Cooper's home in the Hamptons after someone reported a bogus shooting taking place at his house last month.

The New York Post reports that a 911 caller told law officials in Southampton Town that a man shot his wife at the CNN anchor's home in Quiogue. Cops from four departments surrounded his home, but found no signs of a shooting, sources say.

This is the first time that the hoax has occurred anywhere outside Los Angeles as a number of celebrity homes in LA have been "swatted" over recent months.

Back in April, TMZ reports that Justin Timberlake was "swatted" after an unidentified caller reported that four men broke into his LA home and fired two shots. The caller added that the intruders left a box with red blinking lights in the singer's home.

Other celebrities including Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Tom Cruise, P. Diddy and Rihanna have also fallen victim to the hoax.

Earlier this year, a 12-year-old boy admitted to plotting the "swatting" pranks targeting the homes of Ashton Kutcher and Justin Bieber.

The boy, who is being prosecuted as a juvenile and has not been identified, will be sentenced by a juvenile judge in his home county for making false bomb threats and computer intrusion counts related to "swatting." He is also being charged with a misdemeanor for falsely reporting an emergency in connection to a call at the home of Justin Bieber. The LAPD also say that the boy "swatted" small businesses.