A Sharpsville mother and her son have been victims of swatting since August.

Swatting is a criminal act where someone calls 911 or the police, and reports a serious crime that turns out to be a hoax. The police response to these calls can be intense. 

“The police, the SWAT team, fire trucks, show up at my house all hours of the day, all hours of the night,” said Tammie Krolicki of Sharpsville.

The calls are creating a nightmare for the family. The caller is claiming there is anything from a fire to a shooting happening at their home.

Police have responded to the home six to seven times in the last five months.

Krolicki said she’s in a constant state of worry because of the prank calls.

“It really takes a toll on your mental health, because you don't know who it is, you don't know the motive,” said Krolicki. “I trust nobody. I question everything, I question everybody. There’s days I stay in bed for two days. I just don’t want to get up.”

Because of the calls, police have responded and shown up at Krolicki's place of work and her son's workplace. They have also shown up at her ex-husband's home. 

Krolicki worries the constant fake calls are tying up police resources. 

“When they get a call that involves the SWAT team, they have to answer that call. They have to. But then somebody might be suffering a real emergency and all of their resources are tied up with this prank call,” said Krolicki.

There were less calls for the past month, until this week. In just the past four days, police came to her home two times. 

“When I got home, my street was blocked off. I could not get home because the call said I was shot three times and there was somebody hostage in my house,” said Krolicki.

Matthew Roth, South Pymatuning police chief, said they've received multiple emergency calls about the house. Some of these calls are from somebody anonymous, and others are from a person pretending to be the woman's son.

“We are not the only state that’s experienced this problem, it’s nationwide. We are still actively trying to investigate the origins of these calls,” said Roth. 

Krolicki said whoever it is knows personal information about her family and home.