Cybercrime group Purgatory takes credit for swatting calls at Villanova, other universities

The false warning of an active shooter at Villanova University last week may be tied to an online group called Purgatory that anti-extremism researchers have linked to a string of so-called "swatting" events recently at U.S. universities.

The orientation day scare at Villanova on Aug. 21 — which was followed by a second hoax call Sunday — sent panic across campus and drew hundreds of law enforcement officers from across the region to search for an armed suspect while students, families and staff were placed on lockdown.

The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, a nonprofit group of researchers who formerly worked at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Tuesday they had gathered evidence pointing to Purgatory's involvement in the first call at Villanova and at least one other