 |
A disturbing email threatening school violence in Okaloosa County was sent from a Northwest Florida man’s email account after someone hacked into his computer network using a server located in a foreign country.
Okaloosa County Sheriff Larry Ashley says OCSO investigators worked with counterparts from Escambia and Walton County throughout the night to track down the source of the email that had been sent to several media outlets and school district staffers.
The email threatens violence at schools in the Niceville area and references the “Columbine” school massacre.
At a news conference today with Okaloosa Superintendent of Schools Mary Beth Jackson and State Attorney’s Office representatives Jack Schleter and Angela Mason, Sheriff Ashley said Investigators located and interviewed a local man who appears to be the victim of a spoofing/swatting incident. In other words – his computer was hacked by individuals whose intent is to harass him by making it appear he had authored and transmitted the threatening email. Similar incidents have recently been reported in Delaware, Texas, and St. Johns County Florida.
The investigation remains active. While the source of the email was being tracked down, OCSO deputies checked local schools overnight and provided extra patrols to the agency’s School Resource Officers assigned to each school.
To watch the entire news conference click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS8pweiys8Q
###
