A small online community claimed to be responsible for nearly 20 fake school shooter calls at U.S. universities in the past week.
The group, calling itself “Purgatory,” told Wired they made the swatting calls that sent students, administrators and faculty into panicked responses at various colleges between Aug. 19 and Aug. 25.
In a Telegram chat, the group also listed its services for sale, offering to call in fake shootings wherever people wanted for prices between $20 to $70, according to Wired. The group’s co-leader, known only by the username Gores, claimed he personally made most of the calls.
The most-covered shooting hoax occurred at Villanova University, where many students had just arrived for orientation when reports of an active shooter on campus came in.
“ACTIVE SHOOTER on VU campus,” Villanova’s website warned. “Move to secure location. Lock/barricade doors. More info to follow.”
After hours of tense moments and panic across campus, the shooting was declared a hoax. Another fake shooting call shut down the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga on the same day.
There have been 19 similar fake shooting calls at U.S. schools since Aug. 19, according to Inside Higher Ed.
Researchers at the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism infiltrated the Purgatory Telegram channel and watched as the group made a similar call to Bucknell University, then alerted the university it was fake. GPAHE identified Purgatory as the group behind the hoaxes before Gores claimed responsibility in the interview with Wired.
