PUEBLO COUNTY — A 14-year-old Pueblo boy became unwittingly entangled in a swatting incident that led to the closure of three schools in Pueblo County District 70 last week.
The teen clicked on a link sent by a friend to watch what he thought was a harmless prank, not realizing it would result in threats being made using his student email account. Watch and hear his story below.
Investigators quickly determined the teen did not send the threatening email that prompted the school closures, but the incident has left him and his family dealing with serious consequences.
"I didn't ask for any of this to happen, I didn't know any of this was gonna happen," Korbyn said.
The trouble began about a month and a half ago when a friend shared a link with Korbyn to watch an online group call in a fake report to get emergency responders to show up at someone's house.
"I think they had like, two fire trucks show up, and I thought it was hilarious, because I didn't see harm in it. And about three, three days go by, I haven't been online because school. I get back on. I get into the group, and they asked me, 'Hey, do you want to do a call for us?'" Korbyn said.
He initially agreed, not understanding the seriousness of his participation.
It is a crime to report an emergency you know is fake. In Colorado, you can be charged with a misdemeanor, and the charges can escalate depending on the threat. It's a federal crime to call an emergency response to a location in another state.
What What The Consequences For False Threats Are
When the group later asked Korbyn to make a more serious call to someone in Chicago, claiming he had shot someone, he refused.
"They wanted me to say that I had shot my friend in my basement, and I was locked in the attic. And I was like, 'No, I'm not gonna do this. Like, that's too far. Like, I understand like, prank calls, like fire trucks, but I'm not gonna say I've hurt anybody,'" Korbyn said.
After refusing to participate, members of the online group began threatening Korbyn, revealing they knew personal details about him and his family that he had never shared.
"They had called my dad's current house with it was, I believe it was just my step mom and my baby sister there, and it freaked them out because they had said something about my dad was got a gun out of the safe, and we were all hiding from him. That's when it started to get very deep," Korbyn said.
The situation escalated around 12:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday when Korbyn's parents learned from a family friend that a threatening email had been sent from his student account. The email threatened his school, the Online Learning Academy's Pueblo West campus, as well as Swallows Charter and Liberty International.
Korbyn's stepdad, Cody, woke him up in a panic.
"So the first thing we could do was like, let's get on there, you know? And as he gets on there, he's still seeing messages shooting out that he's not sending," Cody said.
Not knowing what to do, Korbyn sent a short email to the same group stating, "I have no idea how it was sent through my email. I am sending this to say it was not me." But the damage was done, and law enforcement soon arrived at their door.
Pueblo County Sheriff's investigators have determined it was not a District 70 student but someone from out of state who is responsible for swatting the schools. Investigators are working with the FBI on the case.
An FBI spokesperson said agents work with local law enforcement to track and create a real-time picture of swatting incidents to try and stop them and find who is behind them. The agency uses its Virtual Command Center to track swatters, many who operate from overseas.
As the investigation continues, there's no guarantee the same group won't threaten the schools or Korbyn's family again.
"I understand that is affecting our... people around us, but a lot more than me like, it's affecting me a lot more that they don't see and it's not I didn't ask for any of this happen," Korbyn said.
The teen's phone and school laptop have been confiscated, his username is compromised, and his classmates are keeping their distance. For a 14-year-old, it amounts to a significant disruption of his life, all from clicking a link.
I am in touch with investigators and will update you if there is any change in the case to find who is responsible.
This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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