Ohio man on FBI's Most Wanted List for 'swatting' arrested Thursday in Columbus

Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
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An 18-year-old Ohio man on the FBI's Most Wanted List accused of conspiring with other people in a "swatting ring" that reported false threats around the country was arrested Thursday.

The FBI's Cincinnati field office said in a social media post that authorities took Brayden Grace, of Columbus, into custody without incident.

Grace was indicted Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Maryland along with several others on charges of conspiracy, cyberstalking, interstate threatening communications and threats to damage or destroy by means of fire and explosives.

The others charged include men in Virginia, Maryland and juveniles in Massachusetts and North Carolina, federal officials said.

Grace and the other co-conspirators are accused of participating in an online group called "Purgatory" that would participate in "swatting," the FBI said.

Swatting occurs when a person, as a prank, makes a fake phone call to an emergency number in order to prompt a large, heavily armed, law enforcement response to another location. These calls typically revolve around schools, homes, shopping malls or airports and often involve fake bomb threats, hostage situations or activities related to terrorism.

Those making the false threats often use online tools, such as phone number spoofers, to prevent being identified or allowing the number to be easily traced. The phenomenon has been on the FBI's radar for more than 15 years.

The "Purgatory" group had been active between Dec. 10 and Jan. 18 and used a public Telegram page that would take credit for swatting attacks and advertise their services, court records say. The group would use TextNow and Google Voice to disguise their numbers and shared pre-prepared "scripts" for calls with each other, as well as suggestions on how to get the largest possible police response.

The groups is accused of being responsible for threats that include:

  • a threat to burn down a residential trailer park in Alabama

  • a shooting threat against a teacher and unnamed students at a high school in Delaware

  • a shooting and bomb threat to Albany International Airport

  • a shooting and bomb threat directed at Hollywood Casino in Columbus

  • a false report of multiple people being killed and a shooting threat against people at a home in Eastman, Georgia.

Grace will be held in custody locally until he can be extradited to Maryland for further criminal proceedings.

bbruner@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio man on FBI's Most Wanted List for 'swatting' arrested in Columbus