Texas Teen Pleads Guilty To Making Bomb Threats, 'Swatting' Minn. Residents
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A teen from Houston, Texas pleaded guilty Friday to calling in fake bomb threats and hostage situations to several Minnesota victims, including a high school.
Zachary Lee Morgenstern, 19, was charged with one count of "threats to kill," according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota.
According to court documents, Morgenstern made a series of threatening communications to a number of victims in the Marshall area between October 2014 and May 2015. Attorneys say the teen used anonymous email addresses, Twitter handles and internet-based phone accounts to threaten to kill an officer and her family, use explosives to blow up a school and use guns to shoot up a school.
Court documents allege Morgenstern also instigated several local incidents of "swatting," the dangerous prank that involves calling in a hostage situation to local authorities with the hopes that a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team responds to the victim's residence.
One such incident occurred on Oct. 7, 2014, when Morgenstern claimed he had taken hostages and shot someone at a Marshall home. Court documents also detail a similar incident in January 2015, when Morgenstern claimed to be a local 17-year-old and threatened to "shoot up" Marshall High School. Morgenstern made a bomb threat via email just a few days later, claiming to be the same person. He later bragged about the incidents to the intended victim on Twitter.
In court documents, Morgenstern admitted to making similar threats in other states. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.