MySpace posting prompts arrests
2006-04-21
Five teenagers were arrested yesterday and accused of plotting a shooting spree on the anniversary of the Colombine massacre and the birthday of Adolf Hitler. Authorities were first alterted to the alleged plans from a MySpace posting online which indicating the teen's intentions.
An Associated Press report on CNN says that authorities found guns, ammunition, knives and coded messages in the bedroom of one of the teens. The MySpace posting that alerted school officials and authorities was brief, but indicated there would be a shooting at Riverton High School and that people should "wear bulletproof vests and flak jackets." Authorities took the posting seriously and may have averted another Columbine-like massacre in the U.S. Ars Technical also provides some commentary on the report.
MySpace.com is a social networking website with more than 72 million members worldwide, but caters primarily to teens and young adults. The Fox Interactive Media subsidiary has been reported frequently in the news recently over concerns of sexual predators using MySpace to find victims. MySpace recently hired a well-known cybercrime investigator to aid its site defenses and protect against sexual predators.