A woman died this week in a car crash involving a Georgia officer who was responding to a bomb threat at the home of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, according to police and the congresswoman. The threat turned out to be a hoax, said Green, who said it was target several times before through “hit” attempts, where someone signals a false emergency to law enforcement in an effort to draw an armed response to their target’s residence.
The crash happened Monday in Rome, Georgia, where Greene lives, as the officer was driving his personal vehicle to join his department’s bomb squad on a call, Rome police said. in a statement. A car left in front of the agent on his route, causing the accident, CBS affiliate WANF he reported, citing the Georgia State Patrol. The other driver, Tammie Pickelsimer, 66, was killed in the collision, state troopers told the news station.
Authorities have not identified the bomb squad officer by name, and it was unclear if he was injured in the crash.
Greene, a Republican who has represented Georgia in the U.S. House since 2021, said the officer was responding to a threat at her home when the crash occurred.
“I am heartbroken right now. I was just informed that an innocent woman was killed today in a traffic accident involving a member of the Rome Police Bomb Squad who was responding to a threat at her home mine,” Greene wrote in a social media post monday night
“These violent political threats have fatal consequences,” he continued. “It’s an undue strain on our law enforcement that needs to be taken seriously. The officer was responding to protect my life. And now, a woman has lost her life because of this despicable act.”
Said the deputy in a previous post Monday that the deputy chief of the Rome Police Department had “received an email containing a bomb threat directed at her.” Greene shared surveillance video that appeared to show a bomb squad officer examining the mailbox outside his home.
He also shared screenshots of the alleged email, which contained the subject line “For Palestine” and claimed that a homemade pipe bomb hidden in Greene’s mailbox would explode the next time someone opened it or over the weekend.
According to Greene, authorities have apparently traced the email to a Russian IP address. He said his office was working with local and federal law enforcement, including the FBI, to find and prosecute the perpetrator.
CBS News reached out to the Rome Police Department, the Georgia Department of Public Safety and the FBI for more information, but did not receive immediate responses.
Violent threats against lawmakers across the country seems to be on the rise. Recently, several Democratic U.S. Reps. from Connecticut reported receiving bomb threats around Thanksgiving, shortly after President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team announced several cabinet and administration picks were the target of similar threats as well as hitting.