A Lollapalooza The security staff is currently in jail after allegedly creating a mass shooting threat.
the Chicago Tribune reported that the employee wanted to leave work early and intended to use the threat as cover.
On the second day of the long-running Chicago music festival, 18-year-old Janya B. Williams reportedly sent a message to her partner from a phone number that read, “Mass shooting at 4pm location Lollapalooza. We have150 targets.” The number was allegedly generated by TextNow, a free, internet-based phone service platform that allows users to register real phone numbers.
Janya B. Williams was reportedly arrested and charged with a felony count of making a false threat of terrorism.
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The co-worker notified supervisors of the threat, which led to the involvement of Chicago Police and the FBI Joint Counterterrorism Task Force, according to Tribune. Williams allegedly created a throwaway Facebook account under the name “Ben Scott” and posted the threat there as well.
As part of TextNow’s privacy agreement, the company retains users’ IP addresses upon registration. That said, law enforcement was quickly able to tie the TextNow number back to Williams’ IP address.
Sources said Williams was arrested and charged with a felony count of making a false threat of terrorism. Prosecutors reportedly said that when questioned, Williams admitted the scheme was an attempt to get out of work early.