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US charges 'Call of Duty' swatter's alleged co-conspirators
Now that Call of Duty swatter Tyler Bariss has pleaded guilty, law enforcement is pursuing the people allegedly linked to his crimes. Federal agents have charged Neal Patel, Logan Patten and Tyler Stewart for reportedly conspiring with Barriss in both swatting attacks (that is, trick police into sending a SWAT team) and false bomb threats in locations across the US, including Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio and Texas. Patel and Patten also face respective charges for bank fraud and threatening to injure in interstate commerce.
Facebook's headquarters evacuated due to bomb threat (updated)
Tonight the police in Menlo Park, CA are on the scene near the 200 block of Jefferson Ave where the headquarters of Facebook and Instagram are located. According to local news stations KRON4 and NBC Bay Area, an anonymous tip came in to the NYPD, who forwarded it to local officers. In a tweet around 6 PM local time, Menlo Park PD said "The building has been evacuated and the bomb unit is on scene." The events bring to mind the shooting at YouTube earlier this year, and even if it's a hoax, we've also seen how quickly "swatting" pranks can end tragically. A company spokesperson confirmed via email that everyone is safe, a few buildings were evacuated and they are investigating. Update 12/11 11:55 PM ET: According to the latest update from police, they did not find any device or suspicious package. Facebook spokesperson Genevieve Grdina provided the following statement: Late this afternoon, we received a bomb threat and took swift action to evacuate several buildings at our Menlo Park campus. We take the safety and security of our people at Facebook extremely seriously and are glad that everyone is safe. We are working closely with local authorities to investigate this threat and further monitor the situation.
Notorious Kansas swatter charged in net neutrality bomb threat
The FCC vote on December 14th, 2017 is best known as the day that net neutrality died, but you may recall that it didn't quite go as planned. During the session, Chairperson Ajit Pai announced that the room had to be evacuated because of a bomb threat. Now, the person who allegedly did that, Tyler Raj Barriss, has been indicted. If that name sounds familiar, it's the same person accused of swatting a gamer who was subsequently shot and killed by police in Wichita, Kansas.
Alleged swatting hoax ends in the death of a father of two (updated)
Yesterday evening, a 28-year-old Kansas man was shot by police after the station received a call about a hostage situation taking place at the man's residence. "It was a shooting call involving hostages," Deputy Police Chief Troy Livingston said during a press conference last night. "The original call, we were told that someone had an argument with their mother and dad was accidentally shot. And that now that person was holding mother, brother and sister hostage. We learned through that call that a father was deceased, and had been shot in the head. That was the information we were working off of." But that information turned out to be wrong and shortly after the incident, reports began to surface online that the call was part of a "swatting" stunt -- a hoax wherein someone makes a false police report in order to fuel a large law enforcement response.
GDC award for culture critic Anita Sarkeesian led to bomb threat
A bomb threat was made regarding a speaker and award recipient at the Game Developer's Choice Awards (part of the annual Game Developer's Conference) in San Francisco this past March. Anita Sarkeesian (pictured above), host of Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, a YouTube series that naturally examines the way women are depicted in video games, was the intended target. As Kotaku reports, an anonymous email was sent to around 25 of GDC's organizers stating the following: "A bomb will be detonated at the Game Developer's Choice award ceremony tonight unless Anita Sarkeesian's Ambassador Award is revoked. We estimate the bomb will kill at least a dozen people and injure dozens more. It would be in your best interest to accept our simple request. This is not a joke. You have been warned."
Bomb threat at Apple's Elk Grove distribution center
A bomb threat was called in to Apple's Elk Grove, California distribution center today. The threat was called in around 8 AM PST. The Elk Grove distribution center is used for warehousing and human resources. According to AppleInsider, the threat caused the evacuation of buildings A, B and C on the campus. Elk Grove police officer Chris Trim told Fox 40 news that four bomb-sniffing dogs were sent in to search the 100,000-square-foot buildings. After five hours, the local police felt there was no real danger and gave the all clear for employees to return to the buildings. There is no word yet on any possible leads about the person or persons that called in the threat.
