A teenage gamer in Virginia is said to be involved in the recent spate of bomb threats at colleges and universities in the tri-state area, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told NBC New York.
It was not immediately clear which specific threats the 14-year-old was involved in, but there have been scares in recent weeks at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, Cornell University, Brown University, Columbia University in Morningside Heights and on Thursday at NYU in Lower Manhattan.
WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE
>Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
Each incident has led to building evacuations and campus alerts sent to students, faculty and staff, and each was later deemed safe.
NBC New York is not identifying the teen due to his status as a minor.
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our >News Headlines newsletter.
Separately, authorities said several "online persons operating on the Discord chat platform" were involved in swatting incidents in Los Angeles back in August and September. The individuals in that group have allegedly been linked to 30 other bomb threats and swatting incidents.
The suspects range in age from 13-16 years old, with one of the teens allegedly involved living in Yonkers, authorities said. Other suspects are from Harford County, Maryland, and Medina County, Ohio, as well as a teen in Cyprus.
A spokeswoman with FBI New York confirmed the office assisted with the Los Angeles authorities in the investigation.