The father of a Barrhaven teen at the centre of a massive swatting investigation is now being treated as a person of interest in this past week's cyber-attack campaign.

The campaign -- which has targeted City of Ottawa, Ottawa police and Supreme Court websites, among others -- was launched by a hacker group named Aerith on Nov. 12. The group appears to be using the teen's supposed wrongful arrest as motivation for the attacks.

On Wednesday, the boy's father was invited to police headquarters, where he had been told he'd be meeting with an officer assigned to investigate two separate break-ins reported at the family's Barrhaven home. The family claims they have also been the victim of online threats.

But according to the father, he was instead led into an interrogation room where he met with an officer from the cyber-crime unit.

He says he was then read a definition of what a person of interest is, and was given the option of speaking to a lawyer.

"I talked to the lawyer and he told me to leave (the station)," the father said. "They're trying to pin this (cyber attack campaign) on me ... I don't know how to do the stuff that's being done. I don't have the skills."

The father shared with media a series of apparent e-mails containing threats against his family, which were forwarded to him by Aerith, the same hacker collective claiming responsibility for this week's cyber-attacks.

Aerith claims the e-mails originate from a hacker in New Jersey who, according to the group, is framing the Barrhaven teen for the original swatting charges, and continues to harass the family.

In one e-mail, the sender offers $150 for help "to scare this kid and his f------ stupid family," providing an address and instructions to "just break a window, or door, or something."

Meanwhile, Aerith resurfaced Wednesday, saying more attacks are planned on websites believed to be related to the original swatting investigation.

The next attack, according to a message from Aerith, will be "a military contractor, who hasn't been so nice, it's related to our other cyber-attacks."

Aerith e-mailed a digital audio file to the Sun, saying, "We stick our necks out for (the Barrhaven teen) because he is innocent ... Proof is coming."

As of late Wednesday, police wouldn't confirm the father was a person of interest.

Twitter: @DougHempstead