‘Gore-seeking group’ responsible for USC active shooter hoax, attorney gen. says

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson blames an online “gore-seeking group” for last month’s active shooter hoax at the University of South Carolina’s Columbia campus.

Wilson said the hoax calls were linked to the group “Purgatory” by the Center for Internet Security and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Wilson also said a self-proclaimed leader of Purgatory told WIRED.com that his group was responsible.

The hoax took place on Aug. 24, the Sunday after classes started. Callers reported an active shooter near the school’s library, prompting a campus lockdown. Police determined after investigating that there was no active shooter and that the calls were a hoax.

Wilson said “Purgatory” has also been linked to “764,” which he calls a “teen crime group” that targets and recruits teens 17 and younger.

“I’ve spoken to USC President Michael Amiridis, and he has my full support to do what is necessary to protect our students and keep our campuses safe,” Wilson said. “I will continue to warn young people and parents about the dangers of these online criminal groups.”

“Those perpetuating these trends, who are often teens themselves, seek to generate online gore material through coercion and victimization of other teens, including but not limited to: cutting, blood signs, child sexual abuse material, sextortion, bestiality, the torture or killing of animals, and documented suicide,” Wilson’s office said in a release. “These subjects also encourage their victims to become the subject and victimize others via online video games and chat rooms.”

Wilson, who previously warned about such groups back in March, said they direct, produce and distribute sexually explicit material involving children, “often grooming and manipulating minors into producing the material or encouraging them to harm themselves through cutting themselves or creating and sharing violent or bloody videos or photos.”

Leaders of these online trends also often encourage and execute attacks on others via swatting and bomb threats.

“Swatting” is a form of harassment in which a caller prompts first responders to another person’s location with a hoax call about an emergency that does not exist.