Nikki Haley says police had 'guns drawn' on her parents after 'swatting' incident

Nikki Haley's parents were home when she was targeted by a "swatting" hoax in December at her home on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, she said on Sunday.

It was one of two such incidents in recent weeks, according to law enforcement records obtained by ABC News.

The 2024 Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina governor commented on the swatting during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" when she said that officers had "guns drawn" and pointed at her parents, who were with a caregiver, after police were reportedly falsely directed to her residence on suspicion of a crime in late December.

Haley and her son were not home at the time of what she called an "awful situation," which was first reported by Reuters.

Haley's husband, Michael, was also not present as he is currently deployed overseas with the South Carolina National Guard.

According to an email referencing comments from Kiawah Island Public Safety Director Craig Harris to other town officials, obtained by Reuters, the first incident occurred on Dec. 30 after a man called 911 and "claimed to have shot his girlfriend and threatened to harm himself while at the residence of Nikki Haley," Harris said.

"It put the law enforcement officers in danger, it put my family in danger and, you know, it was not a safe situation," Haley said on Sunday, adding that the threat was not the only one made against her so far during the 2024 campaign cycle.

"That's what happens when you run for president," Haley said. "What I don't want is for my kids to live like this."

She added that she feels the incident is evidence of the "chaos surrounding our country right now."

ABC News has obtained two incident reports from the Charleston County Sheriff's Office related to the two attempted "swatting" incidents that occurred at Haley's home in Kiawah Island.

According to a statement circulated and sent to ABC News by the sheriff's office, their SWAT team did not respond to either incident and the patrol unit was dispatched to both calls.

Both cases have been administratively closed, without known arrests, and were reported to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the statewide investigative agency.

Haley, who also served as the United States ambassador to the U.N. before her run for president, is one of several high-profile political figures to recently be targeted in various ways.

Last month, a New Hampshire man was arrested and indicted after allegedly sending a series of threatening text messages about three presidential candidates -- including threats to kill then-Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

The other two candidates allegedly threatened were not identified by the Department of Justice.

Attorney General Merrick Garland made note of the environment last month, citing a "deeply disturbing spike" in threats to public officials.

"In just the final months of 2023, the department investigated and charged individuals with making violent threats against FBI agents, federal judges, including a Supreme Court justice, presidential candidates, members of Congress, members of the military and election workers," Garland said in remarks at a Department of Justice roundtable.

"These threats are unacceptable," he said. "They threaten the fabric of our democracy."

ABC News' Abby Cruz and Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.