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    Man with ties to North Lima added to FBI’s most wanted list

    By Adam Conn,

    2024-05-15

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3lktHG_0t3X9q9300

    COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) – The FBI is searching for an alleged swatter, who could possibly be located in central Ohio.

    Man charged in Warren murder: Police

    According to the FBI, Brayden Grace, 18, is wanted for his alleged involvement in conspiring to place and causing to be placed, swatting calls to multiple police and emergency departments across the United States, including one in which he threatened to blow up Hollywood Casino in west Columbus.

    Agents are reportedly searching for Grace, who is currently on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, in eastern Ohio and in northeast Columbus.

    The FBI said Grace, along with other conspirators, were part of an online group known as “Purgatory,” which reportedly placed swatting calls between Dec. 10 and Jan. 18. The group is believed to have used multiple online social media platforms, including Telegram and Instagram, to coordinate and plan their alleged swatting activities.

    On April 20, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Grace, who is from Columbus and may be in the area of Morse Road and Karl Road near the Clinton Estates neighborhood. He is charged with conspiracy, interstate stalking, interstate threatening communication and interstate threat involving fire or explosives.

    • https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0foJB6_0t3X9q9300
    • https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0rIjzD_0t3X9q9300

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland said that Grace, along with Owen Jarboe, of Hagerstown, Maryland, and Evan Strauss, of Moneta, Virginia, and others would use the social media platforms to coordinate and plan their swatting activities and announce swats that they had conducted. The suspects would often use shared scripts to obfuscate their phone numbers and identities.

    Grace and his co-conspirators are allged to have been involved in the following, according to the superseding indictment:

    • 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 the state of Delaware
    • A shooting and bomb threat to the Albany International Airport in New York
    • A shooting and bomb threat against Hollywood Casino in Columbus, Ohio
    • A multiple homicide event and shooting threat against individuals in a residence in Eastman, Georgia.

    According to court documents, Grace called Hollywood Casino on Jan. 5 under the moniker “bit coin” and threatened a shooting and to burn down the building unless he received $100,000 in cash and a helicopter.

    Grace is described as 5 feet 9 and 160 pounds with brown hair and green eyes. In addition to Columbus, he reportedly also has ties to North Lima, Ohio.

    If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in federal prison for each count of conspiracy, cyberstalking and interstate threat and a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on each charge to damage or destroy by means of fire and explosives.

    Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI office in Cincinnati at (513) 421-4310.

    Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

    For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKBN.com.

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    Comments / 5
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    ISaidWhatISaid
    05-17
    Did they ever find the swatter who had the black elderly Uber/lyft driver killed by the elderly white man in Ohio? If not, my gut tells me that this may be the suspect or someone from this “Purgatory” group.
    Anthony Schmidt
    05-17
    ain't no fun when the rabbit got the gun as they say. stupid kids learning the hard way
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