Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/635712
ByChristineArmario The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Onaspring day at Mount Elden Mid- dle School in Flagstaff, Ar- izona, the phone rang and a receptionist answered. A computerized female voice was on the line with a dis- turbing message: "I can see children. I'm going to kill children!" The school immediately went into lockdown. Police searched the building as teachers tried to keep ner- vous children calm in their classrooms. Worried par- ents flooded school phone lines. In the end, nothing was found. It was the fourth threat- ening call in a month at the 10,000-student school sys- tem. After an onerous cy- ber forensics investigation involving the FBI, detec- tives found their suspect: a 29-year-old New Yorker who authorities say used a Gmail account with a fake name to call in threats and score "points" in an online game. "It is very difficult to un- derstand," said Barbara Hickman, superintendent of the Flagstaff school sys- tem. "It was devastating to my elementary schools. It was frightening." Security experts, law en- forcement authorities and school officials say the ep- isode was part of what ap- pears to be an emerging trend around the nation: hoaxers using proxy serv- ers, virtual private net- works and other high-tech identity-disguising tools to anonymously threaten schools online and trigger a huge police response. In December, Los Ange- les, New York City and sev- eral other school systems received an email warning of a grisly attack. In late January, districts in Del- aware, Virginia, Massa- chusetts, New Jersey and elsewhere received bomb threats phoned in using an electronic voice. No arrests have been made in those cases. In almost every instance, the threats disrupted the lives of thousands of stu- dents. Schools were closed or locked down. Police and search dogs scoured build- ings for intruders and bombs before concluding the threats were hoaxes. "These are time-con- suming and complex in- vestigations," said Fred Ryan, police chief in Ar- lington, Massachusetts, whose department is inves- tigating one of the robotic- voice threats received last month. "We're all compar- ing notes." A number of school threats received over the past year are a variant of "swatting," a practice that began around 2007: A caller falsely reports a crime in progress at an ad- dress, causing police cars and SWAT teams to rush to the scene, weapons drawn. Victims of swatting have in- cluded celebrities such as Justin Bieber as well as on- line gamers targeted by ri- val players. Increasingly, swatting- type attacks have focused on places such as schools. The goal is to get heavy me- dia attention, said Jonathan Fairtlough of the security consulting firm Knoll. In many cases, the perpetra- tor has no direct connection to the schools threatened. At least three suspects arrested over the last year were gam- ers who met online. Fairtlough described most swatting perpetra- tors as juveniles who are "highly intelligent, socially poorly adjusted." SWATTING Hoaxers increasingly going online to threaten schools RICHARDVOGEL—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE A police officer puts up yellow tape to close the Edward Roybal High School in Los Angeles following an electronic threat to the Los Angeles Unified School District. In almost every instance, the threats disrupted the lives of thousands of students. Schools were closed or locked down. Police and search dogs scoured buildings for intruders and bombs before concluding the threats were hoaxes. Red Bluff Community Resource Guide 2016 20,000 + readership! Full color, gloss magazine • 6,000infull-rundistributionofThe Daily News • 3,000 additional distribution throughout 2015: Red Bluff Chamber of Commerce office/Visitor Center Hotels at Rolling Hills Casino and Red Bluff area. Advertisers receive copies for countertop distribution • Online version of this special publication is posted on RedBluffDailyNews.com, all year long, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! This highly viewed online edition reached over 15,000 unique visitors during 2015…don't miss the opportunity to reach prospective residents and visitors in 2016. • Digital technology allows viewers to "turn pages" and even click from your ad to your website! Red Bluff and Tehama County Chambers, Tehama County and City of Red Bluff post this special edition on their websites. PublishDate:Thursday,February25,2016 Space Reservations Deadline: Thursday, February 4, 2016 10% OFF youradineach section when you buy an ad in Corning 2016 & Red Bluff 2016 Gayla Eckels: (530) 737-5044 geckels@redbluffdailynews.com Suzy Noble: (530) 737-5056 snoble@redbluffdailynews.com Contact your advertising representative today! WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2016 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 5 B