Lollapalooza guard made fake mass shooting threat to leave work early, officials say

A security guard at the Lollapalooza music festival is accused of making a false mass shooting threat against the event to get off work early, news outlets report.

A staff member overseeing the festival’s security team received an anonymous message on their phone around 3 p.m. on July 29, warning of an impending mass shooting, according to prosecutors, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“Mass shooting at 4pm location Lollapalooza. We have150 targets,” the message read.

An 18-year-old member of the security team, Janya B. Williams, sent the message via TextNow, a messaging app, the outlet reported.

Lollapalooza was hosted from July 28-31 in Chicago’s Grant Park, featuring performances by artists including Dua Lipa, Machine Gun Kelly, Metallica, Glass Animals, J. Cole and Big Sean.

Alarmed by the message, the staffer quickly contacted their supervisors, and Chicago police and the FBI were informed of the situation, Fox News reported.

After the staffer shared the news with the security team, Williams mentioned that a similar threat had been posted on Facebook, promising a “massive shooting at Lollapalooza Grant Park 6:00 p.m.,” TV station WGN reported.

“Ben Scott,” the user who posted the threat, was a fake account set up by Williams, prosecutors say. Additionally, the FBI was able to trace the text message back to Williams’ IP address and iCloud, according to Fox News.

Investigators questioned Williams, and she admitted fabricating the threat, court documents say, all in an effort to get off work early, WGN reported.

Williams is facing a charge of making a false terroristic threat, the station reported.

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Are police required to protect people during mass shootings? The legal answer is no