Bomb threat at Pasadena hospital linked to violent extremist group
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Set us as preferred Huntington Hospital was the scene of a massive law enforcement response Friday morning after a person claiming to be part of a global online network of extremists made a 911 call threatening a bomb and other violence, authorities said.The threat at the Pasadena hospital was received from an IP address at 5:40 a.m., prompting police officers, fire personnel and K-9 units to search the hospital, according to city spokesperson Lisa Derderian.The threat was deemed to be a swatting call, in which a person reports a fake threat to illicit panic and a large emergency response, she said.
An all-clear at the hospital was issued around four hours after the call.The caller said they were a member of 764, according to a source familiar with the investigation.The FBI describes 764 as a violent online network that seeks to coerce children into engaging in violent and sexual acts against themselves, animals and other minors.California Teens across America are being recruited, groomed and extorted by network of online predators known as 764 that specializes in coercing minors to perform sexual acts and self-harm on camera and, in some cases, encourages teens to kill themselves.
Group members will often blackmail victims by threatening to make swatting calls at their home address and have also been known to coerce minors into placing swatting calls themselves.A 17-year-old girl associated with 764 was arrested in Vernon, Conn., in 2024 after she was accused of phoning in bomb threats at schools and places of worship.Swatting calls linked to 764 have also been reported at the University of South Carolina and in Red Wing, Minn.During Friday’s investigation into the bomb threat at Huntington Hospital, patients and staff were not evacuated.
However, incoming emergency room traffic was temporarily diverted to other hospitals...