A 19-year-old man arrested in Israel for a series of threats against U.S. synagogues has also been tied to a series of "swatting" incidents in Athens-Clarke County in 2015.
The suspect allegedly called in eight hoax crime reports to Athens-Clarke County Police, getting the SWAT team dispatched to various schools around the county between August 2015 and December 2015, according to a news release issued Friday.
"It happened at several elementary schools, high schools and middle schools, where we would get information from a person (over the phone) ... just basically stating that there was going to be blood shed at local schools," said Public Information Officer Epifanio Rodriguez in a phone interview.
The suspect would allegedly disguise his voice when phoning police about the threats.
"Of course we take those (threats) very seriously. We dealt with eight different ones," said Rodriguez.
Israeli Police describe the suspect as a hacker, but have not released any motives for the crimes. Police have banned the publication of his name, and FBI has not released it, as of Friday afternoon.
The FBI arrested the suspect, a Jewish man who had joint citizenship in both Israel and the U.S., in Israel.
"During the search of the suspect’s residence, physical evidence was recovered tying the suspect to the Athens incidents," said Rodriguez.
Why the man targeted Athens remains unclear.
"We are still actively investigating with the help of the FBI why Athens schools may have been targeted," said Rodriguez.
Lawyers for the suspect in Israel have reportedly stated that he suffers from a "very serious medical condition," which may have contributed to his behavior.
Officials with the Anti-Defamation League claim there were more than 150 bomb threats tied to this investigation at Jewish Community Centers spanning 37 states and two Canadian provinces in 2017.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
