Hagerstown teen faces federal charges for alleged swatting activities

Three people are facing federal charges for their alleged involvement in swatting activities and one of them is from Maryland.

Owen Jarboe, 18, of Hagerstown, Evan Strauss, 26, of Moneta, Virginia and Brayden Grace, 18 of Columbus, Ohio have been hit with the following charges:

• conspiracy
• cyberstalking
• interstate threatening communications
• threats to damage or destroy by means of fire and explosives

If convicted, they each face five 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 explosive.
According to the indictment, from about December 10, 2023 through at least January 18, 2024, they allegedly placed multiple calls to police and emergency departments around the country.

They were part of an online group called "Purgatory" and they used multiple social media platforms to coordinate their swatting activities.

Among the swatting incidents alleged in the 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 Delaware
• a shooting and bomb threat to the Albany International Airport in New York
• a shooting and bomb threat against a casino in Ohio
• a multiple homicide event and shooting threat against individuals in a residence in Eastman, Georgia