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14-year-old's computer 'joke' sets off alarms nationwide
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: 19 Aug 93 23:51:17 GMT
SEATTLE (UPI) -- A seemingly innocuous joke sent by a 14-year-old girl over a computer network didn't get any laughs at the New York City Police Department, or with the Baltimore Orioles or Kingdome officials in Seattle. In an attempt to get a rise out of her boyfriend in New Jersey, the teenager typed out a phony death threat Monday against Baltimore Orioles superstar Cal Ripkin, Jr. The young girl knew her boyfriend was an avid Orioles fan and that Baltimore was playing the Seattle Mariners in the Kingdome. But Prodigy security personnel picked up on the message in their New York headquarters and called police. They notified the Orioles and the Kingdome, where security was immediately tightened. Police staked out the address from where the message had come for 16 hours before the girl, whose parents were on vacation, returned home with her 28-year-old sister. The girl received a stern lecture, but no charges were filed. Police said she was ``very embarrassed and apologetic'' and added, ``By the time her sister got done chewing her out, that was enough.''
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- 14-year-old's computer 'joke' sets off alarms nationwide David Farber (Aug 19)