Delaware
FBI charges online group Purgatory with ‘swatting’ crimes in Delaware, other states
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One guy went by the moniker “Reaper.” Another used the name “Synthetics.” A third’s alias was “bit coin.”
The trio of young men lived in Virginia, Maryland and Ohio but formed the backbone of an online network that called itself “Purgatory.”
They used Instagram, Telegram, and other social media platforms to post messages of mayhem, with their rants attracting some 200 followers, including one teenager in Massachusetts whose username was “clinicallyinsaneog.”
The FBI charges that Purgatory’s purpose was to cause criminal chaos — at a Delaware high school, an Ohio casino, a New York airport, and elsewhere in the United States — by engaging in the federal crime of “swatting,” according to a recently unsealed indictment in Maryland.
Swatting is the act of calling law enforcement agencies and falsely reporting an emergency that’s either in progress or will occur. So-called swatters use computer-based phone lines to conceal their identities.
The aim is to get armed officers or even a police force’s special weapons and tactics unit (SWAT) to respond to the reported bomb threat, active shooter, or other violent crime. Far from a harmless crime, in a handful of cases, swatting has led to the death of the hoax target.
Court papers in a related case against the man who uses the online name “Reaper” say members of Purgatory have committed a variety of other crimes — “hacking, blackmail, extorting individuals for money, extorting females for explicit photos or videos of themselves, and extorting females to commit acts of self-harm.”
Alleged swatter said active shooter was inside Newark High
The alleged swatting incident in Delaware occurred about 1 p.m. on Jan. 4. The victims were the several hundred students and staff at Newark High School.
The call to Newark police was placed from 300 miles away in rural Moneta, Va., from a Google Voice number, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland.
The caller was 26-year-old Evan Strauss, who uses the names “Reaper” and “ex_nightmare” in Purgatory messages, the indictment said.
During the call, Strauss identified himself as Richard Wilson and said he was inside Newark High, where he “heard a man firing shots in the hallway,” the indictment said. The caller said he was hiding “inside a classroom with 10 other people.’’
At about the same time, authorities charge that Purgatory member 18-year-old Owen Jarboe used a TextNow number to call Newark police from Hagerstown, Md., 130 miles away.
Jarboe, who uses the names “Synthetics” and “yoboyqzippy” online, threatened to shoot an unidentified teacher and kill several students he did not name, the indictment said.
The alarming calls led Newark police to dispatch several officers to the school, located a few blocks from the University of Delaware campus. School resource and security officers already inside the school were also alerted.
Christina School District board member Doug Manley said school administrators immediately initiated a “secure hold” that involved restricting access in and out of the building. Authorities soon realized the call was a hoax and dismissed students on time, but after-school activities were postponed, and police remained there for hours, Manley said.
Meanwhile, Purgatory members reveled in the hoax’s success on a group chat, the indictment said.
According to the indictment, Jarboe messaged 18-year-old Brayden Grace, who used the online name “bit coin” and lives in Columbus, Ohio. “You saw what me and nightmare did to the school. Post it in telegram chat,’’ Jarboe wrote.
Later, an identified member posted links to news reports about the Delaware incident on Telegram. “Purgatory is on the roll again,’’ and added: “This was a school that was evacuated seems to [have] some issues with it being on lockdown and not functioning properly.”
Strauss later posted that Newark High was “still on lockdown,’’ leading one unidentified member to exclaim, “LMAO … What was the script LOL.”
The alleged attack against Newark High was one of several crimes the FBI says Purgatory members committed in December and January. The indictment did not say how the defendants selected their alleged targets.
Delaware
Delaware state police trooper killed in active shooter incident at DMV facility; suspect also dead
This story originally appeared on 6abc.
Delaware state police say a trooper was killed in what officials said was an active shooter situation at a DMV facility in New Castle on Tuesday afternoon.
The suspect in this incident is also dead, Gov. Matt Meyer said.
State police said they are “are continuing to assess additional injuries.” There is no official word yet on the exact number of people injured.
Police say the active shooter incident is now over.
The incident happened around 2 p.m. at the facility on Hessler Boulevard.
No further details have been made available.
Police are asking residents to avoid the area.
Stay with Action News and 6abc.com as this story develops.
Delaware
2 hurt after car crashes into building in Talleyville, Delaware
Two people were hurt after a car crashed into a building in Talleyville, Delaware, Monday morning.
The incident occurred shortly before 11 a.m. along the 100 block of Brandywine Boulevard. Police said a woman was driving a light-colored vehicle when she somehow lost control and crashed through the first floor of a realty company.
A fire station is located across the street from where the crash occurred. Firefighters responded in less than a minute and the driver as well as another person were both taken to the hospital. Investigators told NBC10 both victims suffered minor injuries and are expected to be OK.
Crews removed the vehicle and boarded up the damaged building. They continue to investigate the cause of the crash.
Delaware
Delaware-based dark money group ‘Alabama Patients First’ unleashes TV, digital attack on Blue Cross Blue Shield
A brand-new, out-of-state dark-money group launched an attack on Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama over the past week, and has already invested over $320,000 in negative television advertising alone.
During some of this weekend’s largest SEC football matchups, including Alabama vs. Oklahoma, the group ran a shock-style message that is now being pushed to Alabama voters more aggressively than any political campaign could afford to spend on television at this point in the 2026 election cycle.
According to business filings, “Alabama Patients First LLC” was formed in Delaware on December 11. The state is known for its Teflon business privacy laws. LLCs are not required to publicly list their ownership or members, making it an ideal vehicle for dark money to reach its target.
Since its formation, the group has been busy in Alabama.
Using a “Paid for by Alabama Patients First” disclaimer, the group aired television advertisements, launched a website, and directed SMS marketing campaigns directly to voters, igniting a costly media attack against the state’s leading insurer.
“They make a killing off telling you ‘No.’ Blue Cross Blue Shield: ‘No.’ That’s Blue Cross “B*******,” the ad says.
A station-by-station breakdown of the Alabama Patients First TV buy across multiple Montgomery-area outlets, including WSFA, WAKA, WCOV-TV, WNCF, and others, totals $226,071.
The group also spent $102,000 across Birmingham, Huntsville, and Dothan media markets.
The buy spans six weekends, ranging from its first airing on December 14, with a much smaller spend scheduled after January 1, to a wind-down on January 18, 2026.
By comparison, in the Montgomery media market, the group spent $211,633 in December and just $14,438 in January.
In total, the out-of-state group has spent at least $328,071 on pushing the TV spot to Alabama residents.
Alabama Patients First’s TV spend isn’t the whole tab, either. The professional fees required to deploy such an operation likely reach into the millions – and the timing is striking.
The attack on Alabama began the same week that Jackson Hospital and Clinic, Inc. initiated a high-visibility litigation campaign against BCBS of Alabama.
Jackson Hospital and its lender, Atlanta-based Jackson Investment Group, are on the clock for a December 31, 2025 bankruptcy court deadline to secure $100 million in public funding, which would help satisfy a debtor-in-possession (DIP) agreement the two signed earlier this year.
Yellowhammer News requested information from officials at Jackson Investment Group, Jackson Healthcare, and Jackson Hospital to confirm or deny a connection between the hospital’s lending relationship and the creation of Alabama Patients First.
At the time of publication, those requests went unanswered.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama did respond to the negative ad blitz in a statement on Monday afternoon.
“The ads are an intentional misrepresentation of how we do business,” Sophie Martin, Director of Corporate Communications for BCBS of Alabama, said.
“Based on the timing of the ads, we believe they are nothing more than an improper attempt by Jackson’s investor-lender to improperly influence litigation.”
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
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