ATLANTA — Atlanta police are investigating after more than a dozen animals were found decapitated and decaying in a park earlier this month.
According to a police report obtained by Channel 2 Action News, Parks and Recreation workers in Anderson Park found an area where people were dumping trash.
When they investigated, they found chickens, ducks, goats and sheep that had been decapitated.
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Police say the area is believed to be “some type of ritual site involving animals.”
On Thursday, Atlanta police told Channel 2’s Michael Doudna that this incident is one of five incidents they are investigating as a possible link to online extremist group “764.”
According to the FBI, “764” was formed in 2021. After the arrest of the original leaders, the group fragmented, but its members continue to operate under the same name.
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The group primarily operates in online chatrooms, seeking to contact and influence teenagers.
“The group lures children, in some cases as young as 9 years old, to private platforms and then grooms them through intimidation and abuse,” said Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum.
Once contact is made, authorities said, the group coerces victims into acts of animal cruelty, self-harm or harming others.
Officials said the group often leverages compromising information to force minors into dangerous acts.
In February, police began investigating an incident in which a man beheaded a dog and then barricaded himself inside an Atlanta home for ties to the group.
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