Latest news with #SilasKruger
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Fact File: Canadian misidentified as CDC headquarters shooter
Social media posts falsely claimed a Canadian teen, Silas Kruger, was responsible for a shooting at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., on Friday that left a police officer and the suspect dead. In fact, authorities said 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White is the suspected shooter. Kruger's father, a Saskatchewan-based contractor and social media influencer, said his son lives in Canada and is the victim of an online troll group.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Posts misidentify CDC headquarters shooter
Posts are claiming police identified the shooter who killed an officer near the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia as Silas Kruger. But investigators named 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White from nearby Kennesaw as the suspect and said he died in the attack; Kruger, a recent high school graduate, lives in Canada and was framed by internet trolls, his mother told AFP. "Emory University's active shooter, student Silas Kruger, is TOAST, taken out by the good guys in Atlanta!" says an August 8, 2025 post on X, which claimed to show a photo of the supposed suspect. Similar posts spread across X and other platforms, including Facebook, after a gunman killed a police officer and fired multiple rounds from outside the CDC campus near Emory University on August 8, 2025. The shooting took place on a Friday evening. But the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) identified the suspect as Patrick Joseph White, 30, from Kennesaw (archived here). The gunman was found dead inside a CVS drugstore with a gunshot wound, which GBI Director Chris Hosey said in an August 12 press conference was self-inflicted (archived here). Hosey said White had no known criminal history but had recently verbalized suicidal thoughts. Documents investigators found at White's residence indicated that he was "discontent with the Covid-19 vaccinations," Hosey added. Reached by AFP, the GBI referred to its website and X account, where it shared information about the case. The agency also provided AFP with a photo of White from his driver's license -- confirming the suspect is a different person from Silas Kruger. Online harassment campaign Kruger is the son of Murray Kruger, a contractor and social media influencer from Saskatchewan, Canada with more than 2.9 million followers on Instagram. He appears in several of his father's posts (archived here). "Our son, Silas, lives with us in Saskatchewan, Canada and was here in Canada at work all day on Friday, and had nothing to do with the shooting," his mother, Natalie Kruger, told AFP in an August 11 email. "He is also not an Emory University student and just graduated from high school here in Canada less than two months ago." Natalie Kruger blamed the incident on "internet trolls" she said have repeatedly targeted her family since her son met them online in 2023. She said the family has contacted Canadian and US authorities to try to stop the harassment. "Once they found out his full name, they quickly discovered who my husband Murray is too," she told AFP. "They have doxxed us, swatted us, made multiple social media accounts impersonating Silas and other family members." "It has been disheartening to see so many people that were so quick to spread such obviously unverified information, on top of the harassment we've already been dealing with," she added. On X, Murray Kruger replied to several false posts to request that they be taken down (archived here, here, here, here and here). "This is False News," he wrote in reply to the post that said his son was "TOAST" (archived here). "This is our son and we have been victims of a Discord troll group for the last 3 years." The father also dispelled the rumors on camera in a video posted by an account called "The Exposure" (archived here). "Silas, our son, was not involved with anything down in Georgia at the tragedy at the Emory University," he said in the video, which he reposted to his account. "We are in Canada. Silas was at work all day today. He's as surprised as I am." AFP reached out to Emory University for additional comment, but no response was forthcoming. AFP has previously debunked past hoaxes misidentifying other shooters here.
AFP
2 days ago
- AFP
Posts misidentify CDC headquarters shooter
"Emory University's active shooter, student Silas Kruger, is TOAST, taken out by the good guys in Atlanta!" says an August 8, 2025 post on X, which claimed to show a photo of the supposed suspect. Image Screenshot from X taken August 11, 2025 Similar posts spread across X and other platforms, including Facebook, after a gunman killed a police officer and fired multiple rounds from outside the CDC campus near Emory University on August 8, 2025. The shooting took place on a Friday evening. But the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) identified the suspect as Patrick Joseph White, 30, from Kennesaw (archived here). The gunman was found dead inside a CVS drugstore with a gunshot wound, which GBI Director Chris Hosey said in an August 12 press conference was self-inflicted (archived here). Hosey said White had no known criminal history but had recently verbalized suicidal thoughts. Documents investigators found at White's residence indicated that he was "discontent with the Covid-19 vaccinations," Hosey added. Reached by AFP, the GBI referred to its website and X account, where it information about the case. The agency also provided AFP with a photo of White from his driver's license -- confirming the suspect is a different person from Silas Kruger. Image This undated handout image shows Patrick Joseph White's driver's license photo provided by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and obtained on August 12, 2025 (Georgia Bureau of Investigation / HANDOUT) Online harassment campaign Kruger is the son of Murray Kruger, a contractor and social media influencer from Saskatchewan, Canada with more than 2.9 million followers on Instagram. He appears in several of his father's posts (archived here). "Our son, Silas, lives with us in Saskatchewan, Canada and was here in Canada at work all day on Friday, and had nothing to do with the shooting," his mother, Natalie Kruger, told AFP in an August 11 email. "He is also not an Emory University student and just graduated from high school here in Canada less than two months ago." Natalie Kruger blamed the incident on "internet trolls" she said have repeatedly targeted her family since her son met them online in 2023. She said the family has contacted Canadian and US authorities to try to stop the harassment. "Once they found out his full name, they quickly discovered who my husband Murray is too," she told AFP. "They have doxxed us, swatted us, made multiple social media accounts impersonating Silas and other family members." "It has been disheartening to see so many people that were so quick to spread such obviously unverified information, on top of the harassment we've already been dealing with," she added. On X, Murray Kruger replied to several false posts to request that they be taken down (archived here, here, here, here and here). "This is False News," he wrote in reply to the post that his son was "TOAST" (archived here). "This is our son and we have been victims of a Discord troll group for the last 3 years." Image Screenshot from X taken August 12, 2025 The father also dispelled the rumors on camera in a video posted by an account called "The Exposure" (archived here). "Silas, our son, was not involved with anything down in Georgia at the tragedy at the Emory University," he said in the video, which he reposted to his account. "We are in Canada. Silas was at work all day today. He's as surprised as I am." There's been a lot of confusion online. Some social media posts have wrongly linked Silas Kruger, an Emory University student, to the recent Emory/CDC shooting incident. This is false.#Emory#Georgia#ATL#SilasKruger# — The Exposure (@TheExposureTeam) August 9, 2025 AFP reached out to Emory University for additional comment, but no response was forthcoming. AFP has previously debunked past hoaxes misidentifying other shooters here.
Cedar News
6 days ago
- Cedar News
Silas Kruger Falsely Linked to CDC Shooting at Emory Point, Atlanta Police Yet to Confirm Suspect
Silas Kruger Falsely Linked to CDC Shooting at Emory Point, Atlanta Police Yet to Confirm Suspect Several social media posts have falsely linked Silas Kruger to Friday's shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) building in Atlanta, Georgia. However, Atlanta police have not confirmed the suspect's identity, and Kruger's mother says the claims are untrue. Kruger, an Emory University student, was named online as the alleged shooter who opened fire at the CDC facility on Clifton Street at Emory Point. His mother told the Hindustan Times via email that the accusations are baseless. 'We have people that have been harassing my son (Silas Kruger) online, but we live in Canada. They have been spreading false information about him online for years,' she wrote. The individual known as Silas Kruger is the son of a popular contractor with more than 2.9 million Instagram followers under the username @krugerconstruction. Several photos of Kruger appear on the account, but there is no evidence connecting him to the shooting. Police Have Not Confirmed CDC Shooting Suspect Atlanta police have not officially named the suspect involved in the CDC shooting at Emory Point. Authorities are continuing their investigation and have urged the public not to rely on unverified information circulating on social media.
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Emory University shooting suspect's first details out after CDC HQ photos surface: ‘Don't feel safe'
The first details about the suspect who opened fire on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta, near the entrance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have surfaced. This comes as photos from the scene showed a victim, possibly a DeKalb County officer, being carried away on a stretcher. A sign for the CDC sits outside of their facility at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Roybal campus(REUTERS) Atlanta police has not confirmed the identity of the shooter or the victim yet. CDC employees, meanwhile, posted photos of bullet holes on building windows. It is unclear if the agency was targeted specifically. As the situation developed, Emory University warned students and others on the campus to shelter in place. Authorities told students to 'RUN, HIDE, FIGHT' and avoid the area, according to the alert. Read More: Wichita mall shooting: Massive response in Towne East Square; lockdown issued Atlanta police said they were responding to reports of an active shooter. 'The Atlanta police department is responding to reports of an active shooter in the area of Emory University, near 1760 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, ga please avoid the area,' the department noted in a post on X, platform formerly known as Twitter. Suspect info According to local reporters and witnesses, the suspect was shot down. While several social media users identified the suspect as a Silas Kruger. However, we cannot verify the authenticity of the claims yet. Witness speaks up A worker at Emory spoke about the active shooter alert and on-ground situation to NBC News. 'It was saying there was an active shooter and that we needed to, you know, hide. Find somewhere safe,' he told WXIA, an NBC affiliate. 'Immediately, I just go into the nearest building I can,' he added. "I'm just trying to be safe, you know, while I'm out here. Because it's a lot going on — I have co-workers that don't really want to be here anymore, they want to go home, they don't feel safe. So, it's just a lot.' Read More: CDC HQ shooting: Agency's internal memo leaked amid Emory University active shooter alert Gov Brian Kemp issues statement 'Twice this week, deranged criminals have targeted innocent Georgians. Each time, brave first responders rushed toward the danger to subdue the shooter and save lives, reminding us of just how crucial they are,' Georgia governor tweeted. 'Marty, the girls, and I are thankful for all those who answer the call to serve and who protect their fellow Georgians. We ask that you join us in holding them in our prayers, along with those harmed this evening near the CDC Center,' he added.
