New court records obtained by ABC11 connect multiple fake shooting threats at Athens Drive High School in Raleigh to a dark and dangerous online world.
The investigation into why and who is behind the bogus threats continues, but police say it could be linked to a bigger problem.
Raleigh Police said it all started from an online chat.
According to police, it began in July when a juvenile student was unwillingly added to a group chat on the online platform Discord.
RPD said a user identified as “kryl” told the student to harm himself.
The user threatened to share the teen’s private information and tell police that a violent crime was happening at the teen’s home if the student did not comply.
Once the student refused, “kryl” then started “swatting” the student — a form of illegal bullying behavior.
Swatting is a slang term to refer to an intentionally false report of imminent violence at a residence, business, or school to harass and/or endanger a specific person and/or location through a large police and/or emergency service response.