The news that broke in Mexico on Wednesday morning seemed downright foreign to most people reading it: A shooting had taken place at the Colegio Americano del Noreste in Monterrey.
Soon after, the hashtag #MásMasacresEnMéxico began trending as people shared grief — and began looking for answers.
Some Twitter users eventually came to the conclusion that some kind of weird sect or cult called "Legion Holk" was behind the shooting.
But the Holk Legion isn't a cult. It's not a terrorist organization. It's a Facebook community, filled with memes that eventually make their way onto the mainstream Mexican internet.
All you have to do join is create a fake account — it's a requirement to make sure that communication in these groups is totally anonymous, which leads to some truly awful "jokes."
Think of the horror show that is 4chan with all its terrible people — some of whom take advantage of anonymity to carry out illegal activities — but in Spanish.
On Tuesday night at 11:14, a user with the same name as the shooter revealed his plan in the Holk Legion group.
Another anonymous thread on Hispachan, another board filled with memes, says that the idea for the massacre was first born there.
The claim appeared to be backed by a screenshot posted on Twitter, showing a supposed post from the shooter that was posted before the attack took place.
And because the internet is terrible, the boards began arguing about just who can claim credit for the tragedy.
Back on Holk Legion, posters began to pay homage to the shooter. (But grain of salt: This is all posted on a secret forum with no way to check most of the claims that are posted.)
It isn't just random people posting commemorative words: A Holk Legion account on Twitter also praised the shooter.
Addressing the press after the shooting, a state security spokesperson blamed the internet for the tragic act.
This post was translated from Spanish.