Grand Island Casino Targeted With Fake Bomb Threat

The Grand Island Police Department (GIPD) has reported that a bomb threat at the Grand Island Casino was a hoax, or “swatting call.” It has urged the public to come forward with information about the case, as the caller remains unidentified.

The GIPD released a statement confirming it received a call at around 2 p.m. on Sunday claiming there were multiple bombs at the casino. Officers cleared and scoured the area, but uncovered no explosive devices or firearms. The police later determined that the call was a hoax and that the caller had used “a third-party system to spoof a phone number.”

It said that there was no active risk to the public at the Grand Island Casino, but warned that swatting calls “divert emergency resources and can place the public and first responders at risk.”

Nebraska’s casinos, including the Grand Island Casino, have experienced significant growth recently and are poised to expand into online sports betting this year. Lawmakers have refiled two bills that propose allowing casinos to offer online wagering.

Extremist Group Behind Past Swatting Calls

The police have appealed for more information in the case and have not released any further details about the caller. In previous swatting calls, an extremist group known as Purgatory admitted to engineering a series of threats on universities, as well as a casino in Ohio.

Last year, a co-leader of the group, who identified himself only as Gores, said the group offered swatting services for as little as $20. This rose to $95 after a Wire report on the group’s activities.

The group claimed responsibility for swatting at several universities in August last year and said they had generated over $100,000 in revenue from the attacks.

One member of the group, Brayden Grace, was sentenced to three years in prison for swatting calls last year, including one involving the Hollywood Casino in Ohio.

Grace, along with other Purgatory conspirators, called the Columbus Police Department and threatened to “start shooting,” “kill everyone here,” and blow up the Hollywood Casino.

Bomb Threat Leads to Arrest

Last week, another bomb threat to a casino led to the arrest of Seth Maybee, a resident of South Lake Tahoe, California. Maybee called Harrah’s Casino in Stateline, Nevada, saying he was going to bomb the property after losing money gambling.

In a call that officers traced to his residence, he stated, “Yeah, I just lost over $20,000 at your stupid casino, and I am going to destroy it now. I am going to bomb it. This is a bomb threat.”

He was charged with making a bomb threat and making terroristic threats. It is unclear if he genuinely lost $20,000 at the casino or if he actually intended to bomb the location.

Douglas County police said they take all threats seriously, particularly following a bomb detonating at a Stateline casino in the 1980s. The GIPD similarly stated that it “takes all reported threats seriously and will continue to investigate incidents of swatting.”