Columbine High School teachers and parents engaged in a Zoom conference were interrupted with threats of a “2020 Columbine remake” by “Zoom-bombing” hackers, Fox’s Denver affiliate KDVR reports.
Teachers were informing students on e-learning protocols on Tuesday via Zoom when the hackers infiltrated the platform and began showing images of Nazi soldiers and people being beheaded, according to KDVR.
During the call, one hacker shouted: "Going to shoot your kid in the 2020 Columbine remake!"
A parent of a ninth-grade student told the outlet that her youngest son was in the room when the hackers took over. She said he “got sick to his stomach” and was “terrified” of what he saw on the screen.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is looking into the incident.
"I can confirm that we are investigating a case involving a ZOOM call that occurred on August 18, 2020. During the event some of the attendees began playing loud music, using vulgar language, and showing disturbing images," Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Mike Taplin told KDVR.
He added that "even though the vast majority of these types of threats and actions are done to get attention," officers take "every school threat seriously and investigate every case to the fullest extent."
Chief communications officer with Jeffco Public Schools Tammy Schiff told parents the incident "does not in any way suggest a breach or compromise to the security" that Columbine High School has in place for its virtual learning platform.
"It’s unfortunate that these ‘bad actors’ took such heinous advantage of what was intended to be an opportunity for family engagement around the start of school details for the Columbine High School community," Schiff said in an email to parents.
This isn’t the first time the video-conferencing app has had complaints of hackers taking over meetings. The hackers who often post threats or inappropriate messages or photos are participating in what has been called "Zoom-bombing" — sometimes with threatening or inappropriate pictures and messages.
The company has made several security updates to its system to prevent hackers from getting into private meetings, according to Fox News.
It is still unknown how the hackers got into the Columbine High School parent-teacher conference.
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