EDITORS' CORNER
Key Takeaways
- The FBI is investigating a series of false active shooter reports tied to a group called Purgatory, which has claimed responsibility for multiple swatting incidents across the U.S. in recent days.
- Recent hoaxes were reported at universities in multiple states, including Georgia, Iowa, and Tennessee, with no actual threats found, leading to calls for prosecution of the perpetrators for their actions.
The FBI is investigating a series of false active shooter reports that have targeted multiple universities nationwide in the past ten days.
“The FBI is seeing an increase in swatting events across the country, and we take potential hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk,” an FBI spokesperson told ABC News.
“Knowingly providing false information to emergency service agencies about a possible threat to life drains law enforcement resources, costs thousands of dollars, and, most importantly, puts innocent people at risk,” the spokesperson said.
Swatting is the act of making a false emergency report, typically claiming an active shooter situation, to prompt a large-scale law enforcement response, Fox News reported.
At least 10 of these hoaxes are “believed to be connected to a single group, according to an intelligence report,” ABC News reported.
The group, which calls itself Purgatory, has taken credit for the incidents via “a public-facing channel on Telegram, an encrypted messaging service often used by criminals,” The New York Times reported.
Boasting about its recent actions, Purgatory offered to orchestrate additional swatting incidents for a price of $95 per school.
“If anyone is looking to purchase a swat right now we are available,” a member of the group wrote on Telegram.
Bob Boyce, a retired NYPD chief of detectives, told ABC News that swatting calls can stem from motives ranging from simple pranks to revenge or a desire for notoriety. However, regardless of the intent, swatters face consequences including prison time or significant fines.
“Now is the time to prosecute these individuals and put it out there that these people are going to jail, or possibly could go to jail after prosecution,” Boyce said.
The latest string of hoaxes occurred Friday in Georgia.
School officials confirmed that the University of Georgia, the University of West Georgia, and Clark Atlanta University each received false reports of threats, USA Today reported.
“At approximately 8:51 p.m. on August 29, the University of Georgia alert system was activated following reports of an armed shooter near UGA’s main library. UGA Police responded immediately and found, upon further investigation, the report was a hoax,” a university statement reads.
The school also stated that the “hoax report shared similar characteristics with other swatting incidents occurring nationwide.”
Other incidents occurred at universities in Iowa, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Colorado, Arizona, Kansas, and Pennsylvania.
No evidence of actual threats was found in any of these incidents, The College Fix previously reported.
