Police investigating threat made via hacked mobile app game at Forest Lake Area High School

FOREST LAKE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Police in Forest Lake, Minnesota are investigating a threat made through an online scavenger hunt game Forest Lake Area High School students are using during homecoming week. 

District spokesperson Renae Reedy said students play the game, called GooseChase, on a mobile app and post photos to the app to earn points for their team. The game has been a part of the school’s homecoming activities for the past several years.

In a message sent to parents and students Wednesday night, the school said the game had been hacked and someone made broad threats under another student’s name. 

Capt. Greg Weiss, spokesperson for the Forest Lake Police Department, said police do not believe the threats were credible, but they increased their presence at the school Thursday morning out of an abundance of caution. 

Police are continuing to investigate who hacked the app and made the threats. 

In the meantime, Reedy said the school suspended the game. She said it is unlikely the game will resume before homecoming is over. 

Weiss said the company that owns the app is cooperating with the investigation.