FBI investigates German teen over threats against game developer

SK Telecom T1 of South Korea battle against team G2 Esports during the League of Legends (LOL) Mid-Season Invitational in Taipei. File picture: Tyrone Siu/Reuters

SK Telecom T1 of South Korea battle against team G2 Esports during the League of Legends (LOL) Mid-Season Invitational in Taipei. File picture: Tyrone Siu/Reuters

Published Sep 28, 2019

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Munich - A 13-year-old boy from southern Germany was

investigated by the FBI and local German police after he threatened

to go on a shooting spree at a California-based video game developer.

"The boy had very concretely announced plans for a killing spree" at

the company that developed the online game "League of Legends," a

police spokesman from the southern town of Hassfurt said Saturday.

Employees of the company found the chat and alarmed the Federal

Bureau of Investigation, whose agents looked into the matter and

passed on information to their German colleagues. Police in Germany

eventually found the boy's name and address using only an IP address.

After speaking with the teen and his parents, police found out that

he had meant the chat as a joke. Prosecutors decided to drop the

case, though the boy's name will remain in the FBI's databases.

"League of Legends" is an online multiplayer battle game with over a

100 million players worldwide, according to the game's developers.

dpa

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