'Nitro groomed me': Mysterious online figure linked to at least 2 U.S. school shootings

Before 17-year-old Solomon Henderson fatally shot a fellow student and then took his own life at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee last month, he left a trail of documents and social media posts that revealed his immersion in a swirl of violent white supremacy, occultism and edgy far-right memes. Henderson’s writings and social media posts also referenced “groomers” and “handlers.” Among the half-dozen nicknames Henderson dropped, one has been flagged for its association with three separate deadly attacks. Henderson’s dismissive post came in response to a post by another X user tagging the FBI and calling on the agency to detain Henderson and “Nitro” based on their apparent foreknowledge of Rupnow’s attack. “The greatest psy-op ever.” In a comment in his diary accompanying the link, Henderson remarked that Nitro was “trolling” the reporter, adding a homophobic slur and the text acronym for “laugh out loud.” During the interview, Nitro admitted that he and Rupnow had interacted in a Discord group chat, while presenting himself as an amused bystander. Two days after Donald Trump’s inauguration, Kristiyan expressed disdain for Russian far-rightists who welcome the new U.S. president, writing, “The US will remain an enemy, and I’m grateful things are that way.” Following Nitro’s phone call with the reporter seeking information about the Rupnow shooting, Kristiyan commented with wry satisfaction: “Journalist owned.” In addition to playing up the “radfem Hitler” concept as a driver of the attack, Nitro also attempted to minimize connections between Rupnow and another attacker — an 18-year-old named Arda Küçükyetim, who stabbed five people at an outdoor café in the northwestern Turkish city of Eskisehir in August.