By Jonathan Dienst, Andrew Blankstein and Pete Williams -
NBC News
A teenage gamer in Virginia is suspected of involvement in the recent spate of bomb threats at
colleges
and universities in the tri-state area, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News.
It is not yet clear what specific threats the
14-year-old
is involved
in,
but in recent weeks there have been scares at
Yale University
in New Haven, Connecticut;
the
Cornell University
in Ithaca, New York;
the
Brown University
in Providence, Rhode Island;
the
University of Columbia
and
New York University,
in New York City.
All incidents have led to the
evacuation of the buildings
and the sending of alerts to students, teachers and staff, and all of them were subsequently deemed safe.
[Bomb threats put several universities in the country on alert again]
On the other hand, authorities said that several "people who operate online on the
Discord chat platform"
were allegedly involved in
espionage incidents in Los Angeles
in August and September, and individuals from that group have been linked to 30 other threats. of bomb, according to the authorities.
Authorities gather on the campus of Columbia University in response to a bomb threat in New York on November 7, 2021.CAITLIN OCHS / REUTERS
The suspects' ages range from
13 to 16,
and one of the teens allegedly involved lives in New York City, according to authorities.
Other suspects are from Harford County, Maryland, and Medina County, Ohio, as well as a teenager from Cyprus.
A spokeswoman for the New York FBI confirmed that the office collaborated with Los Angeles authorities in the investigation.