Police officers held the brother and boyfriend of the woman known as Jane Doe at gunpoint after an anonymous caller falsely reported a shooting at her family home, according to a police report obtained by The New Yorker.
The October 6 incident was one of several suspected swatting attacks targeting the woman and her family since she filed a civil lawsuit against seven members of Cornell University’s Chi Phi fraternity in late September.
Swatting involves making a false emergency call to provoke an armed police response at an innocent person’s home.
According to the report, a male caller told 911 dispatchers that he was inside the residence, had shot his mother and was about to kill his sister.
Officers were dispatched to the property, which is located far from Cornell University’s campus in Ithaca, New York.
When police arrived, they saw a car carrying two young men pulling out of the driveway.
The men were later identified as Doe’s brother and boyfriend.
An officer drew his firearm, ordered both men out of the vehicle and instructed them to lie on the ground.
They complied while the officer searched them for weapons.
Doe’s father reportedly came outside and shouted at the officers, identifying himself as the father of the family and explaining that his daughter was the alleged victim in the Cornell 7 rape case.
He also told police that the family had received threats from numerous unidentified individuals.
Officers searched the house and found no evidence that anyone had been harmed.
Second Emergency Call Includes Threats of Further Violence
The false report escalated while officers were still at the property.
According to the police report, the caller contacted 911 again, claiming to have an AR-15 rifle and threatening to kill everyone inside the residence before taking his own life.
The incident was not the family’s first suspected swatting attack.
Police records reportedly document other calls claiming that the property was on fire and threatening to bomb the home.
Doe has also received hundreds of threatening phone calls, text messages and direct messages on social media, her lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, told The New Yorker.
In response to the threats, Doe has covered the windows of her family’s home with sheets of paper to prevent outsiders from looking inside, according to her attorney.
Seven Fraternity Members Deny Sexual Assault Allegations
Doe’s civil lawsuit accuses seven Chi Phi fraternity members of sexually assaulting her at a party on October 19, 2024.
The defendants named in the lawsuit are Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar.
Doe alleges that the men engaged in sexual acts with her while she was incapacitated and unable to consent.
According to the lawsuit, she was manipulated into consuming ketamine and alcohol, and the alleged assault continued until she lost consciousness.
She further claims that other men entered the room while she was incapacitated.
The lawsuit also alleges that messages circulated in the fraternity’s active-members Snapchat group describing Doe as sexually available to anyone in the house.
One message allegedly referred to her using the phrase “free p***y,” according to an image included in the court filing.
All seven men have denied the allegations, maintaining either that their interactions with Doe were consensual or that they were not involved.
No criminal charges have been filed against them in connection with the allegations.
Ingalls and Newell were expelled from Cornell following the allegations, according to the report.
Cornell Police Investigated the 2024 Allegations
Doe, who was 20 and a sophomore at the time, reported the alleged assault to Cornell police in November 2024, approximately three weeks after the incident she described in her lawsuit.
Campus police investigated the allegations and submitted a summary of their findings to the Tompkins County district attorney’s office.
The prosecutor relied on the information in deciding not to bring criminal charges.
Cornell also conducted a separate investigation under Title IX, the federal framework governing sex-based discrimination in education.
The university subsequently shut down the Chi Phi chapter and said that some students had been expelled while others were suspended.
Doe left Cornell several months after reporting the alleged assault, Giuffra told The New Yorker.
She later moved to New York City in an attempt to begin a new phase of her life, but the move did not work out.
She has since returned to her family home, where she is surrounded by people her lawyer described as willing to protect her.
Giuffra said Doe is working with a therapist and trying to determine what her future might look like.
New York Officials Take Over Investigation
The handling of the allegations has drawn renewed scrutiny, with New York Governor Kathy Hochul removing the Tompkins County district attorney from the case earlier in October following public criticism over the decision not to prosecute.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is now leading the investigation.
Cornell has also appointed former Deputy US Attorney General Sally Yates to conduct an independent review of the university’s response to the allegations.
The developments came as Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff announced new measures on Tuesday aimed at addressing misconduct involving fraternity chapters and campus sexual assault investigations.
Cornell Suspends Fraternity Parties Through 2027
Cornell has suspended all parties and social events at fraternity houses through the end of the 2026–27 academic year.
The university has also introduced a new zero-tolerance policy under which fraternity chapters would face immediate suspension for violations.
Kotlikoff committed to working with New York State Police to enable independent state investigators to investigate sexual assault allegations.
The move addresses concerns about the existing arrangement, under which campus police generally investigate crimes reported at Cornell.
Although Cornell’s police department has full law enforcement powers, it is controlled by the university and operates separately from municipal police in Ithaca.
The university president also pledged to appoint a case manager within Cornell’s Office of Civil Rights to help people reporting sexual misconduct navigate the university’s procedures.
Meanwhile, supporters of Doe gathered at Ithaca Commons on October 13 to demonstrate in support of her as the case continued to attract public attention.
