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The Latest: Alleged Capital One hacker accused of threats

Vehicles are parked outside the home of Paige A. Thompson, who uses the online handle "erratic," Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in Seattle. Thompson was taken into custody Monday at her home and has been charged with computer fraud and abuse in connection with hacking data from more than 100 million Capital One credit holders or applicants. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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SEATTLE (AP) — The Latest on the alleged Capital One hacker (all times local):

11:20 p.m.

Federal authorities say a former Amazon software engineer accused of a massive hack of Capital One data recently threatened to “shoot up” a California social media company.

Paige Thompson was arrested Monday in Seattle. The FBI said she obtained personal information from more than 100 million Capital One credit applications. There is no evidence the data was sold or distributed to others.

Thompson’s housemate, Park Quan, was also arrested Monday when agents said they found 20 illegally possessed weapons in his room, including assault-style rifles.

In a federal court filing in his case Wednesday night, prosecutors revealed that in May, Thompson made threats against an unidentified social media company. They said the company reported the threat and that Seattle police had made a report about it.

Thompson’s attorney did not immediately return an email seeking comment. She is in federal custody pending an Aug. 15 detention hearing.

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11 p.m.

The 33-year-old former Amazon software engineer accused of hacking Capitol One made little effort to hide her actions.

In fact, Paige Thompson’s online behavior suggested that she may have been preparing to get caught. More than six weeks before her arrest Monday, Thompson discussed the Capital One hack online with friends in chats and in a group she created on the Slack messaging service.

Those chats and the recollections of others offer a sketch of someone talented and troubled, grappling with what friends and her own posts indicate was a bumpy crossroads in her life.

Thompson is in federal custody pending an Aug. 15 detention hearing. Her lawyer did not return an emailed request for comment.

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