An online group has claimed responsibility for the false shooting report at several colleges last week, including the University of Colorado.

Why it matters: Identifying the actors involved in swatting sprees has become increasingly difficult for law enforcement as the attacks frequently originate online, overseas or by using AI software — and it's only going to get worse, multiple public safety officials told Axios.

The latest: An online group called Purgatory has claimed credit for the alerts issued at CU, Villanova University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campuses in recent days, according to Wired Magazine.

• Axios was unable to independently verify the group's claims. According to Wired, the group is known to offer an online "menu" of illegal services.

Zoom in: CU police tell us that dispatchers received a report at 5pm on Aug. 25 from an individual who claimed they heard gunshots coming from the direction of Norlin Library.

• Police evacuated the library and issued a shelter-in-place order for the entire campus. The library was cleared at 8:18pm and no evidence of a shooter was found.

The big picture: The FBI has seen swatting incidents increase nationwide, similar to the spate of false calls that caused terror in schools during the 2022-23 school year.

Flashback: Boulder High was targeted by a hoax shooting call in 2023 though the source of that call was never identified.

State of play: "Swatting" is when someone calls first responders with fake...

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